Harvest, part 4

Leo, Leo! Look which one I have found!

The sun was already high on the sky as the Harvest went on. Leopold was walking up a small rocky hill, with vineyard terraces, holding the basket full of golden grapes over his back. His sister, although a year older than him, walked behind him, picking up a few grapes here and there, plucking a few for herself and passing the rest into the basket with a soft giggle. She had a basket of her own, yet a smaller one.

Leopold turned around, looking at a sizeable grape she was holding in her hands and smiled. He liked the Harvest. It meant that all the cousins and relatives are coming over for the estate for the whole month. Uncle Aron will probably bring his guitar again and tell both funny and scary stories by the fire as them children will sit around, frying marshmallows in sticks. He could already feel the smell of fried corn on the grill, like his mother uses to make when the evening falls down and you can hear the crickets playing in the high grass.

Leo?

He turned around, looking at her again. She stopped walking, and a worried expression covered her face. There was something in the distance, over the horizon, like a cloud approaching.

Yes, Mariya?

She started shaking, slowly blinking and dropped the grape basket she was holding in her hands. The golden grapes rolled down the path, spraying over it like a waterfall. A buzzing sound could be heard, one growing to an uneasy crescendo. He looked up from the ground back in her eyes, noticing a thin trail of blood dripping down from her hair, down her cheek. Her eyes were shaking, full with tears.

Wh...why did you let me die?


Leopold woke up, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. The room was dark, only the red digits on the chronometer visible sharply in it, the rest being faint dark silhouettes. He took a deep sigh, getting out of the bed and heading to the kitchen.

He turned the light on and went for the sink to take a glass of water. He was back in his apartment in Dam Torsad, having come here yesterday from Oris. Letting his head rest against the cold wall, he took a sip of his water, remembering his dream.

That was the day his father died.

Suddenly, the comms unit rang. Leopold looked over to the chronometer again, as it was showing 0420 local time. He grumbled lightly, but it made him feel good in a way, made him stop thinking of his dream.

The channel opened on the small video screen. There was no video feed, and on the other hand, Leopold din't expect any. The voice on the other side was muffled, as if coming through an encryptor, which made it sound androgynous, but Leopold still recognized it, even through the distortion.

Good morning, Leo.

Good morning... any particular reason for you calling me this early.

Quite, Sephirot... I thought you wanted to talk, and time is precious, right? Besides, I'm on the other side of the planet, and my time is precious as well.

Leopold sighed, sipping on his water again as the voice continued.

I've heard of what happened to Lebora, by the way..

Lebora?

The voice chuckled, or at least he thought it was a chuckle.

Don't play games with me. I know how you work, Leo. Ushra'khan? Seriously. I'm reading you like an open book. You are predictable. Do you know what was the last assault Ushra'khan had on high security empire space?

The one on the Basilica.

Yes. Another 'attack' staged by you. Your little political games will be the doom of you one day. One day people will stop believing Ushra'khan and the rest of the minnies are responsible for your shenanigans. You are a thorn in the Empire's side, yet you think yourself a saint... I almost forgot why I left the Tiphareth.

Leopold stayed still, lowering the glass on the desk.

And I almost forgot why we let you go.

Let's just get to it, shall we? What do you need?

Rather who, actually...

Whatever.

Khavarr. Inara Khavarr. Rings a bell?/i]

There was a short pause on the other side. Not having a video link now made Leopold a bit uneasy, but he waited.

I could dig something out, yes. Need just general info or are you hunting her?

[i]I wouldn't call it a hunt, but I don't think general info would suffice...

Very well, I'll see what I can find out and contact you later... Sephirot.

Archon, actually.

What?

I'm an Archon now.

Does it really matter?

The channel just closed, it's screen folding down to the body of the unit with a silent hiss. Leopold walked back to the kitchen, taking a deep breath as clecnched on the glass.

He silently groaned as the glass broke under the pressure, the jagged glass tearing in his hand with a crack. He lowered it down to the sink and walked towards the bedroom again, hitting the light off as he left.