14 Chapter 14: Bell Tower

It was awkward after Royce had stopped crying. They were now sitting in front of each other, legs crisscrossed, unsure of what to do.

A few pigeons flew into the tower and stared curiously at them.

Neo had offered his own handkerchief, which Royce accepted with grace. He was mindful to not accidentally give Finneas' handkerchief, as he had already soiled that one.

After a long silence, Neo was the first to break it.

"When did you come back?"

"This morning," Royce answers him, his voice rough and hoarse from his little meltdown. "Didn't want to come here so soon, but Father didn't believe that I was ill and forced me to leave anyway." He sighs. "What about you?"

"It was during the weekend. I had a few days to integrate back into this body."

"I see."

Again with that silence. Royce was very good at cutting off the conversation, even if he doesn't mean to.

Neo sighs, almost fondly if he was honest.

However, before he can continue carrying the conversation, Royce gives him a glance. "What happened after I died?" The question was asked with a tone that was so vulnerable, Neo almost missed it.

The redhead was now looking at him straight on, the same broken look that Neo, himself, had likely worn the first day he came back as Nazareth.

The black-haired youth plays with his hands, his fingers lacing together nervously as he avoids eye contact. He compiles his memories of the events and takes a breath.

"Tybalt gave all the information he had on me to Aurelion and left the academy." He begins. "Soon after, Finneas confessed the truth about our schemes. I wasn't in the right state of mind after that, especially with graduation drawing closer and my imprisonment imminent, so I kidnapped Sutton and tried to kill him."

He chuckles at the look Royce gives him, realizing how ridiculous he sounds.

Nonetheless, he continues.

"Aurelion stabs me with a sword and I bled out. After that, I woke up and became Neo."

The expression of Royce's face becomes somewhat curious, a little bewildered.

"Doctor Neo Overland?"

"You heard of me?" Neo asked, surprised.

Royce huffs, shaking his head while looking mildly astonished at the coincidence. "I heard your name on the news a couple of times. You and your team were researching the cure for the pandemic, weren't you?"

"Yes. But I died due to overwork." Neo suddenly realizes something, and quickly, he grows worried. "What about the research? Have they found a cure for the virus, yet?"

He implores, seemingly almost desperate.

Royce nods sagely. "Yes. One of the test samples you were cultivating managed to eradicate the virus entirely. It evolved with the virus and continued to eliminate it until the body was cured. It was all over the news. People were celebrating."

"That's good-"

"-Until your death was also reported. I heard a friend of yours donated your body to science."

Neo was given a very pointed look, but he couldn't care less. He was able to save those people. Finally, that was one regret he didn't have to worry about.

A little smile etched across Royce's face as he saw the relieved expression Neo wore.

Ah, they have come far from their beginnings.

After a moment of bathing in that puddle of happiness, Neo grew curious.

"What about you? What did you do in that world?"

He guessed that Royce might have also done something great in that lifetime, seeing as his circumstances were similar to his own. Perhaps he joined the army and made his way up the ranks. Or became a wealthy man through many means. No matter what, Neo was sure that the other's ambitions were just as fulfilled as his own.

Royce snorted at the question. "Seems like you really were a hermit…"

"Hm?"

He shakes his head, not wanting to admit that he was actually very caught up with news regarding Doctor Overland. You can say that Royce was a fan of the researcher, or at least drawn to him.

He peers at the innocent-looking Neo and feels quite irked. Clearly there was a reason for this. Who knew the gods would put them in the same world?

"I opened a company. Ever heard of Khartier?"

Immediately, Neo's eyes light up in recognition of the name. "The jewelry store?" He gaped. "I hear that people die to get their hands on a piece from that place."

Royce hums, feeling mildly impressed--and also quite flattered that the well-known hermit Doctor Overland would know of his company.

Neo seems to have sensed what he was thinking and raises a brow. "What?" He almost looks like he is about to pout, with his lips slightly drawn out and his arms folded like a defensive cat. "I might be a workaholic, but I do read Ferbes Magazines sometimes. I even had a colleague who managed to buy a bracelet from the rarity collections and talked about it for a whole week…"

Royce shakes his head in exasperation. He shouldn't be surprised. No matter which life they live in, Neo's personality has always been an outlier.

"Who do you think is the designer of the rarity collections?" He asked with a teasing smirk.

He watches as realization begins to dawn on Neo's face. The youth looks at him, stunned. "My goodness, you are on par with the celebrities of that world. They valued your designs quite highly."

Royce shrugs. "My designs only become luxury goods when they want it to be. I put my heart and soul into every piece, so I expect the clients to appreciate my art."

Neo snorts, looking less elegant, but far more relaxed. "But of all things, I never expected you to go into jewelry making. It is quite surprising to hear about it."

"I'll have you know that the Benedicks own several jewelry stores in our fiefs. Don't forget that we monopolize the jewel trade throughout the empire." Royce winks with a little smile gracing his face.

For a moment, Neo had thought that the mention of the Benedicks might dampen the mood, but seeing the other sounding so lighthearted and playful, he didn��t say anything more.

Smiling, the youth felt the atmosphere become airy and warm.

"So who are you? The CEO?" Still quite curious, he couldn't help but ask. After all, Royce did mention that he was the one who opened Khartier.

"Main designer." Royce corrects in a haughty manner. "Sir Roy Pierre at your service. I was knighted by the Queen of Angland after I designed her birthday gift." He sounds quite proud, though Neo doesn't fault him. It's the Queen of Angland, after all.

"But if you're not the CEO-"

"-Ah, I gave that position to a friend of mine since he has a better head for numbers and decision making. All I ever wanted was to make the trinkets anyway, so everything worked out perfectly until I died in a plane crash." He gives a careless shrug, but his gaze sharpens once he has finished explaining. "What I'm surprised about is the fact that you went into medicine, of all things."

Neo grew flustered at the look Royce gave him. He only had one goal in that lifetime, and that was to try and redeem himself of his deeds. Unlike Royce, who had the ambition and talent to open up a famous jewelry store, he had one sole purpose.

"Well," He scratches his cheek, feeling rather embarrassed, "I just really wanted to help people after what happened. Learning medicine was a way to save lives, so I just did it."

Cue another round of awkward silence and no eye contact. To be exact, it was Neo staring intently at the ground while Royce's gaze drilled holes into his bowed head.

"So you just did it." The other repeats, cocking a brow. "No struggles? I heard you graduated early and went straight into the field." Early might be an exaggeration. Due to Royce's somewhat unhealthy obsession with Doctor Overland, the story goes that he graduated high school at a young age and went to college, where he spent barely four years, before going straight into medicine. Due to his unusual genius and talents, (unbeknownst to him), Neo entered the public eye at a very young age (for a doctor).

Honestly, if the medical world had not protected this genius within its over-protective embrace, Neo would have known all this long ago. However, because he was well-sheltered and dearly loved, these talks of fame flew over his head and sha la la disappeared in his presence.

He shrugs as Royce looks at him dumbfoundedly, "I don't think so. The material was easy, so I breezed through it and got myself a career in medicine."

"You breezed through it." Royce deadpans as if Neo had just told him that he learned the Hindi alphabet in the womb. And then, he's muttering to himself.

"Bloody prodigies… That whole goddamn family…Fucking Odems and their standards…Where was that intellect the last time you were here?"

"Scheming to kill Aurelion," Neo says quietly, feeling rather small. He's a good judge of emotions, and seeing the pissed-off expression on Royce's face, he shrunk a little into his uniform.

"Exactly," Royce says sharply, fuming on the inside.

He had to struggle through school and climb his way up another jewelry company before he was able to open Khartier. Learning how to design and make jewelry was not an easy feat, and he can still feel those apprenticeship days. Ah, his mentor was a fiery lady who dragged him through hell like it was the National Olympics. He was practically a hostage tied up and dragged from behind if you consider her mentorship to be comparable to the one-hundred-meter dash.

There was so much he didn't know, (and so, so much pain--Lord, please, not again--), and here was Neo, graduating at eighteen or something with four degrees and joining a well-known pharmaceutical company while the rest of the world fought over who got to have him in their medical facilities next Tuesday.

Yes, Royce had, in fact, known of this after reading Neo's biography. The one he is sure that the man himself hasn't realized its existence.

"Roy?"

His focus snapped to attention at the call of his name, and he sees the innocent Vermillion eyes and the worried little frown on petal-like lips, not realizing that Neo had called him by his other name.

Goddammit, he can't even be totally angry now that the man--boy--has softened to this state. Gah, it's so hard to be angry when he's practically a middle-aged man stuck in a body that is going through puberty. Again. He's done this twice already… Why, God, why?!

"It's nothing."

Whatever. They've all been through shit, and he had used up three decades to make peace with himself. Coming back here before everything goes to hell might not be so bad. He even had Neo by his side, a changed Neo who has experienced the modern world with him (and just happened to be Doctor Overland, his role-model, his god, his muse!).

Honestly, he had a few regrets about this world that he wanted to fix anyway, such as his mother, and his two aunts. The three women in his lives who cared for him and doted on him after the death of his two older brothers. And that trashy father of his, but behind the trashy-ness, at least he cared.

Since the Benedick Household collapsed and he was taken away, he never got to see what happened to the four of them. He won't let it happen again, although he guessed that their fates weren't good, either.

Bong! Bong! Bong!

The deafening sound of the giant bell nearly caused them to fly out of their own skin.

Covering their ears, they winced at the ringing, until finally, the bell settled down.

Neo sighs in relief, cringing a little when he heard a long ring in his head.

"That's the bell for class. We should get going."

He turned for the door but saw that Royce wasn't following. He stops.

"Roy?"

Royce drew out from his thoughts and heard Neo's words. He hesitates, unsure if he should go.

He's scared. Of course, he wants to change his fate, but that doesn't mean he isn't scared. There are countless people in that class that he had harmed grievously. At the same time, there are also people who harmed him in kind.

"Roy…"

However, rather than fearing them as people, he feared what memories might draw up once he sees them again. Unlike Neo, who had the time to adjust to this environment again, he had only come back this morning. Terrible memories, things that have not settled completely into his mind, all of it was like a puzzle smashed into smithereens. The sensation was similar to seeing clearly through a foggy shroud, but continuing to remain lost in that maze of remembrance.

Royce deliberated. So much time has passed. The faces of Tybalt and Finneas were blurry at best, and he chose not to remember too much of his time at the academy, repressing them since the day he became Roy. Would he remember them? The people? Every deed he has ever done 'till this point?

"Let's go to class, okay?" Neo's voice penetrated through his musings, gentle and oh-so warm. It was borderline pleading.

He turns to this youth, who calls him in such a matter.

Most importantly, can he trust him again?

They are different from before. They can continue to be different. They can be happy.

Neo has a smile, small and kind, and gentle, promising reassurance despite being just as scared as he.

So finally…

"Alright."

The two of them carefully make their way down the belltower steps, down the staircase from the rooftop, through the hallway of the school, and pass the dining hall.

They walk together, side-by-side, a few inches apart, with silence as their third companion.

Until finally, they made it to their classroom.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

The door slides open.

"Mr. Odum, Mr. Benedick. Glad that the two of you can join us for this lesson." Professor Rickman greets them with his usual sharp tongue. He glowers at Royce especially. "And you, Mr. Benedick, are very, very late for class."

Neo apologizes quickly, beating Royce in making an excuse.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I needed to go to the infirmary for a superficial laceration on my hand due to the ends of a minuscule blade and found Roy there. He had a bad case of somnolence this morning, and it took some time to get him to feel better and move around."

In other words, Neo had told Rickman that he had a paper cut and Roy was sleeping during the first half of the day.

Rickman knew that, Neo knew that, Tybalt knew that, and Royce kinda knew that, but the medical terms were confusing him. Thankfully, the rest of the class, and maybe Finneas didn't know that and thought they really had a medical emergency.

In the end, Neo and Royce were given a warning and were sent to their seats.

"Open your alchemy textbooks to page eight-four. We'll be looking at some reactions today. Pair up with your desk partners and then pair up with another group of partners. I will be handing out samples to each group. Peregrine, do not--and I cannot stress this enough, you nitwit--do not drink the samples."

"So, where were you two really at?"

Tybalt initiated the conversation as the four of them grouped up.

Neo smiles. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I had a very mild laceration on my finger that required some medical attention."

"-And I had somno-something." Royce added, staring intently at his textbook.

Tybalt observes, suspicion clear in his eyes, but in the end, he concedes.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

Finneas still looked very confused, but no one was willing to explain due to the hilarity of the situation. Bless his innocent heart. Neo could still be a dirty liar if he wanted to, not that he would lie all the time. White lies were, at the very least, acceptable, right?

The four of them worked quietly, taking notes and overall, not making trouble.

Neo looked at his companions, a large, happy smile threatened to split his face wide open with the warm feeling of joy.

He hopes these peaceful days will last forever.