Chapter 27 - Letter Of Goodbye

02.07.1642

The Southeast Military Base

25:03

"[CHE5TER]-...RY4N?

[RY4N]-Yeah?

[CHE5TER]-Do you think that... maybe... He was against us as well? Like how the world is...?

[RY4N]-Why do you think that?

[CHE5TER]-I mean... He simply died without leaving anything for us behind... so that we could know what to do. Did He... hate us?

[RY4N]-*sigh* CHE5TER... He was our father. What reason could He have to hate us? You think He abandoned both of His sons alone just because He didn't leave anything behind? Maybe He simply didn't expect to die so early, like all of us.

[CHE5TER]-...Aren't soldiers suppose to write a will the moment they join the military life, though? I thought it's the first document we all sign. We did as well, remember? So how come He didn't do it...?

[RY4N]-I don't... know. Maybe He did. We simply aren't aware of it yet. But just because we didn't find it, should it really be a reason for us to think it this way? ...To give up on everything?"

Now, both of the successors seem to be standing still, side by side, looking at the desk together. While on the desk, the box they got is now opened, having two other small boxes inside as well. On the left side stands one with the symbol =|R, the R borns' symbol, meaning that the box belongs to RY4N. On the right side, the box with the C|= symbol, the C borns' symbol, is meant to arrive in CHE5TER's hands. It's not actually as they expected it to be, since they thought of it being only one message meant for both of them, yet seem to have they gotten a different message each, now being hidden in these two smaller boxes.

[CHESTER]-...Left side is yours and right side is mine, huh?

[RY4N]-Seems like it.

[CHE5TER]-Kind of unoriginal to name both of your sons by the race they were born if I'm thinking about it...

[RY4N]-You sure like to criticise everything for quite a while now. So what if He did that? Are you going to cry about your name as well?

[CHE5TER]-I just said... But, to be honest, I thought it will be something more simple. Why such a headache for two boxes rather than just a simple letter for both of us?

[RY4N]-Who knows... Maybe when the successors have to get the legacy, it's an obligation to be one for each? How am I suppose to know, Ches?

There is a small moment of silence as they watch the box's inside, maybe trying to make up their minds, before CHE5TER starts talking again.

[CHE5TER]-So... the Original is the first one, or...?

[RY4N]-I mean, yeah, I can go first if that's what you want and all. But I don't think it's such a secret we need to hide from each other. Should we read them out loud?

[CHE5TER]-I mean, why should I read yours after as well, though? We earn some time if we are reading them out loud rather than waiting for the other one to finish.

[RY4N]-If you say so...

RY4N looks at his side of the legacy, where he now starts taking the smaller box in his hands and opens it to see what's inside. As he opens it, he finds a little paper and a book, yet he remains confused, looking at his brother, who was also a bit puzzled seeing RY4N's part of the legacy. Then they look at each other straight in the eyes before analysing back the paper which was bended, waiting for RY4N to start reading it out loud.

[CHE5TER]-...What does it say?

He does look around the paper a few more times first as he stares at what is written on it, reading it quickly in his mind, before actually saying it out loud so that CHE5TER can hear too.

[RY4N]-..."My dear RY4N, I'm afraid that if you are reading this letter of mine... I am no longer a part of your lives."

"And as he reads it, it is maybe a vision of the father writing these letters on the same office, alone, with one of the pens He owns. Maybe it is also the start of His exhaustion noticing a rather strange behaviour compared to what we have seen in the past at Him, getting weaker these years for whatever reasons. It is for us to find why in the future. But for now, considering it was four years before His death, He seems in a healthy position even with these tiny problems.

[M4TTH3W]-...Who knows how many years have passed since I left you and your brother, and who knows how I've met this end of mine into the future that now you consider history. I know you may have a lot of questions for me, and I'm truly sorry for not being able to answer to any of them. As much as I would like to be here and tell you everything, I simply... can't be with you anymore, leaving you to find the answer to all your puzzles by going further onto this journey that was written for you by the gods. All I can do for you now is to give you a spark of hope, so you will know that no matter what happens, there is always a restful ending that awaits you. I know, I know... you might be a bit confused on what this legacy I left for you is all about. But, truth to be told... there is no legacy to begin with. What I left for you both is a promise of all your dreams to come true one day, that's all. After all, I've learnt a lot during my years of being your father, and to be honest, I didn't even see myself being one before I took you and CHE5TER as my sons. Perhaps this is more important than a simple inheritance of the title... As for what I left for you, well... I remember how much you liked to listen to the stories I always told you about, and everything about your dream journey. And so I thought... I can give you something that might help you continue with this dream of yours and that will remind you of me as well. So... in the end, I left you an empty book, in hope that one day you will become the writer you always saw yourself to be. How much I wish I could still be around to see how you managed to follow your dreams... but maybe you will be able to tell me in the after-life when we will all reunite."

Yet the memory fades, as the former Great Leader puts the pen down, closing His eyes, and taking us back into the present, where RY4N and CHE5TER are sitting on the couch. While RY4N reads, CHE5TER seems to be looking at the letter, holding His part of legacy, unopened.

[RY4N]-..."Until then, take good care of yourself and your little brother, alright? Be strong for me as I always knew you, my dear ruler." ...-M4TTH3W.

And with that, the letter ends, with the signature of the former ruler at the end of the paper, leaving the two sons to stay silent for a few seconds.

[CHE5TER]-*sigh*...So He thought you will be the ruler of the city even till the very end. I wonder what would He say if He knew the truth... Would He be proud of us?

[RY4N]-Is there a reason for Him to not be proud of us?

[CHE5TER]-I'm just saying that... nothing of what He had imagined has happened. Look where we are, RY4N. He wished for you to take His title and rule over the city, yet I was the one chosen and ruined His plans. He saw you a better ruler than me, and who knows if He was right or wrong. But now, even if I wanted, there is no way of giving you the title He wished you to have, as you are not my successor. I would've refused even if it was possible anyway...

[RY4N]-...So what if it's not how He wished us to be? Great Leader or not, I'm still helping out with the responsibilities, even if you do not want me to, remember? And to be honest, who said I was a better ruler? I'm still not ready to be a Leader of a simple base, let alone the ruler of a whole city. Maybe it was better this way, even with regrets...

CHE5TER stops looking at His brother and directs His gaze towards His box, a bit disappointed.

[CHE5TER]-...So there was no legacy all along. It's not even a last wish, it's just a simple goodbye from Him. All these years I thought He left an important message for us to find, yet it was nothing more than a last word...

[RY4N]-Probably that's the whole thing behind the mystery with the descendants. They do not leave anything behind rather than a last goodbye to their successors. Maybe that's what is behind the whole disappearance of the rulers' backgrounds, because there is nothing left from them anymore. Before their death, they give something to their children as a small memory and remains with the current successor until the next one in line. Once they die, they are just a name of the past, until they fade away as well, remaining only that something behind which has no meaning to the next generation...

[CHE5TER]-That's our fate, RY4N? To simply disappear just because we are descendants of the title? That's why we cannot find the answer to the war at all? Because our ancestors believed that the past should be completely forgotten? ...Why? Why would they want such a thing in the first place? What do they even try to hide? What's up with all these secrets that they keep away from all of us??

[RY4N]-I-I don't... *sigh* I don't know... I just... don't understand it either. But if it was something important, then they had no reason to hide it, right? Maybe it was truly nothing and we are just overthinking it.

CHE5TER then calms Himself down a little, as He takes a deep breath and stares at the box.

[CHE5TER]-..."For all your dreams to come true", huh? I wonder what He left for me...

[RY4N]-You wanted to see the world, right? Maybe it's something about that.

[CHE5TER]-Yeah, I know, but... it can't be that simple.

[RY4N]-What do you mean? Of course it can.

[CHE5TER]-I mean that it's almost impossible to give something that would fit a dream like this. In your case, He left a book for you to write or do anything you want with it, perfect for your childhood dream. But what can He possibly leave for me? I got the chance to see the City of Above as I wished, and I know the Underground City better than anybody else. There is nothing He can actually have for me that I didn't see before. Is it truly just a gift of hope, or was it only in your case?

[RY4N]-Then maybe it's about a different dream of yours. What were your desires when we were younger?

[CHE5TER]-I know that I wanted to become an explorer so badly, but that's kind of it... Nothing more. I've got into military because of this dream as well, remember? When I thought that a military life will let me see the outside world in the end.

[RY4N]-Why did you want to see the outside world then?

[CHE5TER]-I'm not so sure... I think it was because I wanted to find the truth about this wo--

Yet He stops talking, almost in shock from a small realisation, looking back at His brother who was a bit confused.

[CHE5TER]-...You don't think...

[RY4N]-What? What is it?

[CHE5TER]-...I wanted to see the world because I wished to find the truth behind it. Do you think that...

[RY4N]-...He left the answers to your questions?

In the next second, CHE5TER looks back at His box and starts opening it quickly, only for Him to find inside two papers, both of them bended, one a bit smaller than the other, with one being the same size as RY4N's letter. Most likely His letter. Yet the other paper seems to have confused CHE5TER even more, but He doesn't look inside it yet, not before He reads His letter of goodbye.

[CHE5TER]-..."My dear CHE5TER, it might sound a bit strange, but how have you been lately? Maybe you find the question weird, but knowing such a lose can be more than traumatising, and knowing how you used to lose your temper pretty easily, or break down too quickly, I thought that such a question will be a better start than anything else. But perhaps that's only in the past now, as this is suppose to arrive in your hands when you are ready to face reality. So? Was I right? Or did you remain the same little boy I ever knew and loved? ...No matter the answer, I will tell you the same thing I told your brother... I'm sorry. But you both have to get over this loss and continue your lives normally from now on, alright? Everything meets its end at some point, we cannot avoid our fate... Perhaps you saw the other paper already? Don't worry, I will give you my answer on that as well. What I left for you both was a small part of my desires, as a gift of a last goodbye, in hope that you and RY4N will be able to make your dreams come true in the future. As for your part of this "legacy", I thought that answering some of your old questions should be the best letter of goodbye I could ever give you. You are special, CHE5TER... Remember those words? I hope that this paper of mine could help you understand what is behind this empty sentence of a simple man. Follow its path to the Light and all your puzzles will finally get solved. Take care, and remember that this will not be the last time you will ever see me. I'm waiting for our reunion to finally come, and for our old memories together, to do whatever we didn't have time for back then. Stay strong, my dear warrior."...-M4TTH3W.

Probably, after so many years, it is the first time RY4N managed to see CHE5TER excited about something that's about to come. But it's not just excitement, it is also fear yet confidence, happiness yet sadness, peace yet stress. It is as if a child opened its gift which he wished to get for so many years, yet never had the chance to see it until now. And so, CHE5TER takes the other paper that was standing in the box, unfolding it, only for His face to turn back into confusion again.