The farewell of the three of Mr. Goode seemed to take away the last bit of flowing sound in the air. Even the breeze coming through the windows in the long corridor was silent, and time seemed to become a sticky solid, lingering quietly. By the side of two people, not moving or swimming.
Carlos faced Aldo sideways, looking out the window at the roof of the side hall and the garden full of dead branches.
He didn't know what to say. The last time they met was actually not long ago for Carlos, but they staggered before they could even say a word. The final battle was imminent, and no one knew what would happen tomorrow. A future of victory, or eternal hell. Even if there are thousands of words, there is no chance to say them.
And like this, standing together quietly... It seems like something that disappeared in the deepest memory hundreds of millions of years ago.
"Okay, what happened?"
There was silence for a while, and when the atmosphere started to turn awkward, the two of them spoke at the same time.
Carlos shrugged: "To be honest, I don't know. A second ago, I was tug-of-war with Satan on the battlefield. When I opened my eyes, I came to this era inexplicably."
No wonder that person mentioned the time ban that day—Aldo rubbed the bridge of his nose: "You mean, you disappeared suddenly at the last moment because you were caught in an unknown time and space—I'm sorry, please forgive me, I'm a little dazed, after all For me, you have been away for many years, but for you, everything just happened... "
Carlos showed a helpless smile, and he was actually more in a trance: "What about you? What's going on?"
Aldo looked at his handsome silhouette, and after a while he said softly: "A part of my soul exists in the enchantment, and when it is destroyed, it will automatically wake me up."
Carlos frowned: "No one's lifespan can be with the enchantment, just like no one can be resurrected from the dead—or... you didn't die at all, but when you were alive, you forcibly pulled the living soul into a deep sleep? "
"Who did it?" Carlos finally turned his head and looked at Aldo, "...Your Excellency?"
Aldo closed his eyes with some discomfort: "Don't call me that."
A somewhat mean and mocking smile flashed across Carlos's face, but it was only fleeting, and finally fell into a slightly sad expression—in any case, from birth to death, the oath to be guarded by life and even soul, the person in front of him Men did it.
The weather is rare and clear, the sun shines on the white roof of the temple, and in the distance there are early apprentices who have started to study by themselves. Looking down from the heights, the front hall is beginning to welcome new visitors, and white doves are sitting by the fountain. , grooming itself with a cherry-red beak.
Carlos saw this familiar and unfamiliar scene again, and suddenly felt an indescribable light sadness, which slowly detoured in his heart.
This Aldo made him feel unfamiliar. When he looked at the other person carefully, he found that the thin boy who always liked to lower his head in his memory had turned into a tall adult man with broad and straight shoulders. The beauty of his youth can be vaguely seen on his face, but his facial features seem to have been shaved cold by the sharp edge of time, and even carry some solemnity and vicissitudes of life.
Carlos leaned against the window, turned his eyes away, and said in a low voice: "You still..."
"Yes, I am not ashamed of the scepter." Aldo stepped forward and stood beside him at the window, just in time to see the statue of himself in the garden, where, through the eyes of the stone, he was stubborn and Desperately waiting for the longed-for return for a thousand years.
I am not ashamed of the scepter - but I am ashamed of you.
he thought silently.
"So there is indeed a problem with the enchantment you mentioned, right?" Carlos asked.
"It's aged badly and lost energy," Aldo said, "but I'll fix it."
Aldo promised to fix it, and he will definitely fix it. This is the basis of trust that they can still fight side by side even though they no longer trust or even hate each other, and after drifting apart. Carlos nodded, and suddenly realized that he had nothing to say to him, so he said coldly: "Since there is nothing else, sir, I will take my leave first."
"Carl," Aldo said suddenly, and Carlos could hear a hoarse voice with a trembling sound from inside, and the man's throat rolled with difficulty, "Can I... can I hug you?"
Carlos was silent.
He didn't answer, Aldo's raised hand froze in mid-air, a few inconspicuous bloodshots appeared in his light gray eyes, and his eye sockets were even a little red, stubbornly maintaining such an embarrassing and embarrassing movement :"… please."
This is the person he swore to protect for the rest of his life, Carlos thought uncomfortably, he had been excited all day by the other party's faint smile, and had trouble sleeping and eating because of his unexplained frown, but they In the end, they walked far away, and when they met suddenly, they were surprised instead of happy, and even had an own fight.
The proud and sensitive boy who had always lived in his heart had his face blurred at that moment, and his body gradually elongated, turning into a man humbly begging for a hug.
Carlos sighed, and finally relaxed his tense shoulders. The next moment, Aldo hugged him tightly as if he had been pardoned. The archbishop a thousand years ago was just like what he said to Mike, with his palms on Carlos' back and his eyes closed, as if he was counting the heartbeats of the other party.
"I can... I can do anything for you," Aldo said in Carlos' ear, "if you could give me a chance..."
I can do everything for you.
Carlos thought, I once... told you that too.
After a while, he firmly pushed Aldo away, pretending to be calm and said: "I have no doubts about your promise, but... it's still not necessary."
Aldo grabbed his wrist: "Carl!"
Carlos lowered his eyes, glanced at his cold and pale fingers, and made up his mind, one by one, slowly opened his fingers, raised the corners of his eyes and smiled softly: "It's Flaret May I remind you, sir."
I'm already... very tired.
After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked out, the hem of the long windbreaker, which looked a bit weird to Aldo, fluttered slightly, and he held the nondescript epee in his hand, and the scabbard moved with his careless steps. Pat lightly on his leg. Although he no longer wears a huge hood, he still uses a small top hat that looks less exaggerated to press over his eyes, as if otherwise, he would feel insecure.
Aldo suddenly remembered the conversation between the two many years ago:
"Leo!"
"Mr. Aldo, Mr. Flaret, who gave you permission to call me by my name?"
After many years, it turned around.
Aldo looked at his back, smiled a little sadly, and clenched his hands under the sleeves of his large robe into fists—he was always unavoidable, and had a deep-rooted fear of Carlos' back.
As Carlos walked out of his sight, the obvious sad expression on Aldo's face disappeared like sand blown away by the wind. He looked down at his hands calmly, There still seemed to be the smell of that person.
He got two pieces of information just now—the first one is that Carlos came from that war, and the time between him and the person in his memory was not as long as he had imagined before, and the second one is that after being tested, he still has a lot of confidence in himself. Be soft-hearted.
That's enough, Aldo said to himself, good enough, I'll get you back, by the Temple.
The morning wind blows through the window, blows his blond hair, and brings the cold and clear smell of winter. Aldo takes a deep breath, closes his light gray eyes, and stands there silently, like the morning light Angel in prayer.
"If there are gods in this world," he thought, "permit your most sincere gratitude to your irreverent subjects."
Carlos, who was full of conflicts, took a taxi from the temple back to Gal's house and paid for the car—this made him even more entangled. It was always difficult for him to tell what amount those weird banknotes represented, and he was already absent-minded. tragedy.
Fortunately, the taxi driver is older and more sympathetic. Look at the rusty "toy sword" this handsome guy is carrying, and then look at him working very, very hard, and getting it wrong three times. The fare is clear, and the sympathy is beyond words.
"No, no kid, I can't take your money, trust me, you've got a lot of courage to go out alone," the driver said, "Okay, put them back, please."
Carlos thought: Huh
Watching him get out of the car, the driver poked his head out of the window and shook his fist at him: "Remember children, the constitution grants you the same rights as others, everything will be fine, disability is the best teacher, don't be fooled by it Defeat, and you'll become an amazing human being."
Carlos: "..."
That... are you misunderstanding something
"Run bravely like Forrest Gump!" The driver whistled impassionedly, turned the steering wheel, and drove away.
Lily, who was playing in the yard, saw him at a glance and called out happily: "John!"
"Stupid," Mike tugged at her braid, "his name is Carlos."
Lily screamed, and the two children quickly wrestled together, but Gall came out, as if he didn't know how to face him: "Jo... well, what should I call you?"
A similar age... ancestor? This is too much.
Carlos froze for a moment, stood still, a little at a loss.
When he wasn't smiling, his face was too pale. Even though the wound on his body was about to heal, the paleness was rooted in his soul.
He stood there, no one else could see his eyes clearly, as if he was about to be blown to another place by the wind, he liked to give a hand to any lively place in the world, but he came and went in a hurry, just for fun, Grab a glass of water and go somewhere else soon.
Gal suddenly remembered the unofficial history about Carlos that the gravekeeper had told him that day in the Adorat cemetery, the endless wandering and grievances, but it still did not stop him from finally returning to the battlefield. Now Carlos is still alive. Not as old as myself, but when he was called young and promising, this person had already experienced such a magnificent and ups and downs life.
Gal showed a gentle smile, no longer hesitated, walked up, stretched out his arms to hug the man standing there, and patted him on the back twice: "Well, no matter what you call it, you finally It's time to go home."
Perhaps the bloodline has already become too thin to be mentioned in the passage of time, but here, it has become his only concern and connection. A thousand years later, the descendants of his family, who never saw each other again, finally fulfilled the promise made by their ancestors when they were young-if you don't become a great person, we have to love you forever.
Carlos had a sore nose, and his stiff body finally relaxed, which made him smile softly: "I was so moved that I almost cried."
"Oh, you can lend me your shoulder." Gal let go of him happily, picked up Lily and Mike, and walked to the courtyard of Xiaoden's house together, "Shall we go out for Italian food for dinner, big kids and little ones?" children?"
Lily and Mike said in unison, "Long live!"
Carlos laughed, but soon, he remembered something again.
"By the way," he asked Gal, "Who is Forrest Gump?"