Arc 0: Prelude 24 - The Real Ideal

real /riːl/

actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed.

It was just another evening.

Just another inclement evening.

Another evening… without her.

For three harrowing days since that dreadful nightfall, the rain persisted, never to die out or to stop for even a second. As melodramatic as it was, the sorrows of others were not silent, for even in the loud rainfall of the world’s cries, they cried along with it. They all cried.

On that barren grass that almost turned to mud from the rain was a long, black coffin, descending down a hole of equal size. It adorned itself with an ornament of white flowers; lilies. Surrounding it were dozens of people coated in black, some held umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain, and then there were others that had no desire to even think.

This was a funeral — Lauren’s funeral.

“This isn’t real…,” a girl mumbled from within the crowd, “It can’t be real… it just can’t…”

A portion of the crowd were high school students, they were all Lauren’s classmates and friends. Even as time passed, most of them were still in denial, especially the girl, who happened to be Lauren’s best friend. She was devastated. But she, and her friends, were not the only ones. There were friends, family, and acquaintances alike. Every single one that Lauren’s smile was once laid upon stood there at the funeral.

But then there was Zachary Ashworth, neither weeping nor moving, remaining just an emotionless shell nestled in the ground under the rain. He stood at the front away from both crowds at the sides, for he desired not to face them, he despised all of them. If they truly cared for Lauren, then they would have been there for her when he wasn’t.

「Where were you then…?」

He would think while shooting glances at his classmates from afar; the classmates that he resented so much from long ago.

Before long, the coffin was finally buried underneath the ground, harboring a lifeless shell that was never to surface again. A headstone nestled in the ground just near the burial, serving as a grim reminder of who rested below the earth.

LAUREN CHERITH

2005 - 2022

There was a woman on the ground.

She cried hysterically in front of the grave. Her eyes were sore from the endless stream of tears running down her cheeks, and her hair was a chaotic mess from being soiled in the dirt whenever she stomped her head to the ground.

“You… you c-can’t leave me like that…!” The woman wailed as she embraced the headstone, “I know… I-I-I know I… I wasn’t a good mother… but I… I… always… I always… loved you…,” her weeping became louder, “I-I always loved you…!”

It was a sad sight to witness; sad in several different ways. Never did anyone imagine the woman who neglected her child for so long would be broken beyond measure in this state after her death. This was Lauren’s mother; the drunken disgrace of a mother that always brought shame to her child’s name.

Yet at this moment, she seemed to be none of that, she looked just like any parent mourning the loss of their child. It was no mere act. After all, she was still a mother, and she would continue to live her life as a regretful mother who only learned the sentiment of motherhood after all reason to be was lost.

“I love you…,” cried the mother again.

She seemed to be talking to her daughter from beyond the grave, truly marking the loss of sanity within her.

“I love you. I love you. I love you so much, so please come back to me!!!” She clenched her fist and slammed it to the ground, “Lauren, sweetie, please…!!!!! Don’t waste your life like that. If-If you want me gone, I’ll leave and you’ll… you’ll never see me again and, and… and then you can come back. Sweetie, they are saying you’re dead. Can you believe it? You! My sweet little daughter! D-Dead?!”

Hearing her cries brought only more ache and sorrow to the people’s hearts.

“Please wake up and tell them that you’re not. Get up here and show them that you’re alive. I know… I know you’re in there!”

To everyone’s shock, she dug her hand into the dirt and started digging to remove the dirt. A few men quickly rushed to grab her and pull her away, but she fought back against their attempts.

“Leave me!!!” She screamed, “I just want to see… I want to see my baby!!! I know she’s down there listening!! She’ll suffocate if we don’t get her out!! You’re killing her!! I know she’s still there!!! Let me go, you murderers!”

Despite her devastating pleas, the men still pulled her off ground and away from the grave. Another man, seemingly the father, took her by the arm as they both walked through the crowd and out of the gravesite.

「Nothing’s changed…」

Zachary clenched his fist.

Even after all that he went through; after all that she went through, he still wasn’t able to make the right decision. She was the star that lit up his colorless world, the one that pulled him out of the cave he locked himself in before, the one who, above all else, saved him. And yet, he didn’t save her.

“So that’s the boy, eh…”

“He saw it all and didn’t do a bloody thing? Fucking hell.”

Voices; old, young; sad, angry. Many, many voices.

They echoed through the rain, all berating Zachary for his ineptitude and lack of strength to save the girl then.

“Apparently, he just stood there. Can you believe that?” A woman whispered in a not-so-quiet manner, “The poor girl…”

Everyone knew that he was the only one there at the time of her death, they knew he was the one who witnessed it all firsthand, and yet instead of offering comfort, they faced him with hate. Their denial persisted even within their own selves, choosing only to shift the blame on him.

「What would you know?」

It was a time like this that he wished for the noise to cloud his ears once again. He couldn’t defend himself, and there was no one to defend him. There was always her to act in his place whenever things went south, protecting him no matter what.

But now, she was gone.

However, not all was lost, for an unlikely party came to the front.

“Will you all just shut the fuck up? This is a funeral for fuck's sake.”

It was the voice of someone he never expected to stand up for him, someone he barely talked with. It was his cousin.

“Erina!” Her younger brother, his other cousin, whispered for her to quiet down.

In spite of her efforts, a young man broke out of the crowd where the students were. With a tight grip, he grabbed Zachary and pushed him to the ground, sulling the both of them in the dirt. But the young man didn’t care, the anguish that was written on his face made it clear his mind was too clouded with pain to care about anything at all.

“You!” He swung his fist at Zachary, landing it in his face, “You let her die!”

However, Zachary barely felt a thing from the impact. He had lost all sense of touch. The pain had no meaning anymore. Only the droplets of rain from above that touched his skin made him hold onto his life.

“You could’ve called for help!!!” The young man punched him once again.

Still nothing. Not even a hint of speech.

“It’s all your goddamn fault!!”

「Why are you blaming me?」

“Yeong-Gi! That’s enough!!” A girl, the same girl who was crying earlier, called out and grabbed the young man’s arm, “Stop it!”

「Why are you all blaming me? I didn’t do anything.」

As the young man got off him, he stayed on the ground, thinking about everything that was going on, or rather he desired not to think about anything at all. It was all too tiresome in his eyes.

Before he knew it, a man approached him, offering a hand to help him up. That man was none other than Lauren’s father.

Zachary was startled upon seeing him. Of all people, it was the man who most likely resented him the most that wanted to help him. For what reason, he couldn’t wrap his finger around it.

Nevertheless, he accepted his help and got off his feet.

“You’re Zach… right?” The father exclaimed in a rather calm tone, “My… my daughter’s talked about you a lot… at least, she used to,” he lowered his head and sighed, “She had a whole song and dance about how great you were and how much you helped her.”

After brushing off the dirt from his suit, he looked at him, “Sir, I…”

“No need,” a mournful smile was drawn on his face.

Seeing that smile startled Zachary for a moment, if not for how the father could still smile despite the dreadful situation, it was definitely because that smile reminded him of her.

「Like father, Like daughter. That’s new!」

The father eyed the crowd for a moment before glancing back at Zachary with warmth. “Let’s talk elsewhere.”