Jul. 28th, 2022

galacticnonsensese: (Default)
[ Oz's room ]

'Shall we talk in either one of our rooms?' is what I meant to ask but before I knew it
I was in Oz's room.

Akira: ...Being that fast really is helpful.

Oz: Sit down.

Sitting on a chair, Oz told me to sit on the bed.

The fireplace was naturally lit.
Listening to the fire crackle, Oz put a hand on his head.

Bending his wide back, he deeply sighed. From the bottom of my heart, I sympathised with him.

Akira: (...It must have been incredibly troublesome...Arthur making a promise and all…)

No matter how much Oz denies it, you can tell that Arthur's feelings are true.

The fireplace crackled again as sparks flew out. There was a faint smell of charcoal in the air.

Before I could find any words of comfort, the confession abruptly began.

Oz: ...When Arthur returned to Central Country and the whole of the North was covered in a snowstorm, the twins prophesied something.

Oz: Arthur will be summoned as a Sage's wizard and as a result of the battle against the Great Calamity, he will lose his life.

The window rattled violently. I noticed that a huge gust of wind was hitting it.

The trees creaked and the birds took shelter. The sunset was shining under swirling black clouds.

Akira: (What did Oz just say..? Prophecy…?)
(Arthur is going to die…?)

Oz looked out the window with a bitter look on his face.
He squeezed his hands tightly, his fingertips trembling.

Oz: ...Do you think he's reached the castle by now?

Akira: Eh..?

Oz: Arthur.

Akira: Wouldn't it take a little longer…?

Oz: ..Until it makes it to the castle, I don't want to cause a storm.

I remember the stories I've heard before. Oz uses his emotions to stimulate the spirits and change the world's weather.

Oz: ...When Arthur arrives there, I'll tell you everything.

Oz: Wait a little.

I nodded.

[ Flashback, in front of Oz's castle. ]

Snow and White: …

Snow and White: < Noscomunia >

[ In Oz's castle ]

Oz: …

Snow: Oz.

White: Oz dear.

Oz: ..What is it?

Snow: What a gloomy voice!
Even random ghouls who crawl about graveyards don't have such a sunken tone.

White: As if it's heartless, this castle is also so dull and dark.
The air is so heavy and lifeless.

Oz: …

White: …
Looks like you've had a dream with Arthur in it.

Oz: Leave.

White: That's not cute!
If it's enough to make you have an outburst of anger, you might as well go pick up Arthur.

Snow: It's been forever since Oz was cute.
However, something within him has changed after he picked up and raised Arthur.

Snow: Was that also my imagination, Ozzie dear?

Oz: ……

White: Oz dear.
Nothing is sadder and more miserable than the sudden loss of a loved one.

White: Knowing when it will end however, could give you some salvation.

Oz: ...What's this about?

Snow and White: We've seen a prophecy in a dream.

Oz: ...Is this an impossible-to-change prophecy from the twins of the North ?

Snow: That's exactly it.
We're the ones who foretell the future.

White: Everything lies in the fate of the stars.
The days to come will forever remain unchanging.

Oz: …Whatever.
It has nothing to do with me…

Oz: The kid who looks forward to see the flowers blooming,
The kid who worries about what the weather tomorrow will be,
He's not here anymore.

Oz: No matter what fate lies in front of me, I don't have even a shred of interest in it.

Snow: How pitiful…
Did it wound your heart to that extent?

Oz: ……

Snow: Even you, who has no interest in fate, knows us quite well.

Snow: You have never thought of others.
You've never wanted to think about others.

White: Having closed out the world from yourself,
Not knowing love or sorrow,
That must have been like a ray of light.

White: If you didn't have anything in your heart, nothing could ever threaten it after all.
galacticnonsensese: (Default)
Snow: Oz dear, the future we prophesied isn't one that has to do with your fate.

White: It's about Arthur's fate.
We came to tell you out of compassion.

Snow: If you don't want us to deepen your sorrows, we will stay quiet and go home.

White: Forget all about the child who grew up in this castle.

Oz: ……

Oz: What have you prophesied about Arthur? Are there ominous perils ahead?

Snow: Arthur will be summoned as a Sage's wizard from Central country.

White: And then, during the fight with the Great Calamity, he will die and turn to stone.

Oz: ……

Oz: Arthur will…

Oz: …Turn to stone…?

Snow: Yes.

White: Yes yes.

Oz: …
…How is that believable?
I refuse to believe your words.

Oz: The fight against the Great Calamity is nothing but a ritual.
There is no way one would lose their life.

Oz: A while ago, you were the ones who said that !

Snow: However, that is the prophecy.
A fate foretold cannot be changed.

White: You don't have a long time left.
Make sure to spend it without any regrets.

Oz: ……

Oz: …Arthur will die…?

Oz: Arthur will, to the moon…

Oz: …Like I'd accept that…

Snow and White: Our prophecies can never be changed.

Oz: …I can't accept that…!

[ Granville Castle ]

Arthur: …Hm?

Arthur: I thought someone was calling me but, it must have been my imagination…

Arthur: Today was a good day.
It gave me hope that one day, I can have a heartfelt exchange with my uncle.

Arthur: There is a trust you can obtain only by showing that you are willing to make sacrifices.

Arthur: …Even though I ended up getting scolded by Master Oz…

Arthur: The voice he scolded me with, it was so nostalgic.

[Oz's room]

Oz: ……

Lightning could be seen in the darkness outside, the fire in the fireplace gradually burning out.

After Oz finished speaking, I sat shocked.

Thinking about it, Oz was telling me about the twins' unpleasant prophecy from the day I came to the Magic Headquarters.

Akira: (So that was about Arthur…)

Even if my brain understood it, it still hadn't reached my heart.

I mean, that sweet prince's smile, out of every living thing in the world, would die.
It felt so wrong.

Smiling in a easy going way, the boy who flew into the sky.
I thought of Arthur as a friend even before I met him.

I heard about him through the twins.
I felt so close to him through everything in the previous Sage's book.

No matter how Snow and White's prophecies can't be changed.
A future where Arthur dies, I definitely don't want to believe it.

Akira: …Oz, even if they're prophecies, they can be changed, right…?

Oz: …The twins' prophecies can never be changed.
Fate is always determined by the path laid by the stars.

Akira: …That…But…

Oz: I also tried to change fate.
Without even knowing the reason, it interrupted me when seizing power over the world.

Oz took another deep sigh, and loosened his fists, trying to pry his fingers apart.

Looking down at his hands, he muttered.

Oz: …My attempt should have been successful.
I got chosen as a wizard from Central.
Even a crest appeared on my body.

Oz: I thought I could become a substitute for Arthur's destiny but the new sage summoned Arthur.

Akira: That means…!

Oz: That was you, Akira…I couldn't overwrite fate.

At a loss for words, I remembered a scene I once saw.

The words Oz muttered when he saw the crest on Arthur's hand that time we went to pick him up in the North.

Why?

Akira: By successor, did you perhaps mean substitute? Of Arthur? Of a Central wizard?

Yes. Mithra also said it. That I was a genuine Northern wizard.

It's strange, for him to be summoned as a Central wizard.

Oz: I guess that can be said.
I didn't think it would hurt me in any way while fighting against the Great Calamity.

Oz: I overwrote my destiny.
But you changed it back.

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