Manzo awoke in a field, covered in Esperia flowers. "No no no." He whispered to himself. Raising his head to see in the distance a small table with two chairs. He struggled to raise his arms to pull himself up. But just before he did so, he felt the earth shift underneath him. Popping him straight up onto his feet. "What is this place?" He whispered to himself quietly.
He had never seen somewhere as lush as this was before. It made his greenhouse look almost dead and decayed. "Manzy." He heard a voice call out to him. It was a familiar one, one he had not heard in quite some time. It was the same voice that had called out to him through the nether when he was in the forest. He turned his head in every direction in hopes that he would be able to tell where it was coming from.
"If you don't hurry up, the tea is going to get cold~" The voice wrang out to him again. It didn't make any sense, there was no tea, and there was no one there. Had he died, and was he stuck in limbo? Surely something as simple as an explosion would not be enough to knock him out. Just how strong was that paper bomb anywhere? Strong enough to knock him for a loop, that was for sure.
He continued to look around and yet he still couldn't find anyone. No one here but the flowers. "I can't find you." He called out. He heard the voice chuckle a bit, as the smell of flowers wafted through his nose, leading him down the path to the table. So he did what his body told him to do, he started walking.
After a few moments of that, he found himself at the table. He took a seat, waiting for him was a cup of tea. He picked it up and sipped it slowly. It was Esperia's earl grey, something he had not had the chance to simply sit down and have for what seemed like an eternity.
He put the cup down on the table, taking a deep sigh. "I guess it's just me here." He said silently, before he could utter another word, the scene shifted to an all white room with a film projector in the middle. Then as if by magic, Esperia popped into being, a phantom sitting right there beside him.
"I thought you'd never find this place." The phantom said in her usual playful tone of voice. There was so much to take in, he didn't know where to begin. Truly he didn't, what could he say to her, nothing would ease the pain he felt from losing her. Yet if this was heaven, he had to make the most of the time they had together.
"Well you know me, I've always been a bit slow." The phantom shook her head and smiled warmly at him. Raising her hand, activating the projector. Scenes from the demonic invasion, where he almost died played on the screen. He didn't understand why she would show him this. Yet he continued to watch. "You really don't give yourself enough credit." She said. Of course this confused further. Not knowing what exactly she could mean by that.
"You think you're just some throw away part of a bigger story. The way I see it is, you're the glue, that holds the pages together." Those words struck him deep in his heart. A single tear falling from his fae as he continued to watch. "You never run away you know, so I don't know why you think yourself a coward." It was true, his confidence had waivered. He just didn't know she could see that.
"You may think I'm gone, but I'm not. I'll always be here, whenever you see the blooming of a forget me not. Manzo..." Before the phantom could utter another word the voice of Nyancelot echoed through his head. Suddenly he found himself away on the battlefield. His body burned and bloody, yet he felt no pain.
Picking himself up, he looked over to the exceed with a smile on his face, and tears in his eyes. Feeling the warmth of seeing his friend again, then it dawned on him, what was he doing out here. "Nyancelot, is Lily okay? Did something?" He asked.
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