Random Leaf #1564

"Yet of the many injustices this world have, it is themselves that they have to think of saving last. And sometimes, they even forget they were ever in need of saving."

"Is that the reason why most of them have to hide their identities?"

"In their truth, they are to themselves nameless and need no attention. Even in dire situations, they must stay unnamed and inexistent."

"Aren't they just being proud?"

"Proud?"

"Don't you think that they themselves don't need help because they know they can survive?"

"To be human, that's what you're saying. That is true but that is never always the case."

"Then what is?"

"They themselves are never free of sin. They shout justice. Carry the name and flaunt it everywhere. Just to create the world a better place, a step at a time. Yet they ignore the one needed saving the most."

"Themselves? But that's just being selfless, right?"

"Are they truly ever happy?"

Random Leaf #1563

"I guess, at this point, I should just accept it, right?"

"You're better than that. You always are. Yet-"

"I know."

"You aren't that. You're not that. I know you aren't."

"In certain lands, the hero of another country is a villain to another. The same goes with me. Truth be told, I am not actually the kind and gentle person that many knew me."

"But you aren't a bad person."

"I have my own motives. I have my own desires. I have my own wants. I am not saint. I have my own sins I must carry."

"But you're not a bad person."

"I'm just human. But the thing is, after everything, I know where I'm going."

Random Leaf #1562

"Miracles! Miracles!! Miracles everywhere!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, that's what the crazed lady said earlier out in the street. People were laughing at her. There were also those that mocked her."

"Did you as well?"

"I, too, could see the miracles but I wasn't as brave as that crazed lady."

Random Leaf #1561

"To be honest, for someone like me, I always wanted to be a hero."

"A hero?"

"You know, those caped crusaders, vigilante, unnamed masked good doers."

"The comic book heroes."

"Hey, don't call them that. The child in me will always adores their stories."

"You do know they're fiction, right?"

"I know but can't I at least dream of becoming one?"

"You know, there's a hero within everyone you see and meet everyday. They just don't go brag about it and they don't have these certain fantastical story telling about what they do."

"I know. I won't deny it. They exists but those aren't.. I supposed they should get the recognition they deserve. But I'm not interested with them."

"Welcome to reality."

"I hate you."

Random Leaf #1560

"If you mean to ask what they want, then I guess, the hero would just let the world burn just to save their loved ones. But don't get me wrong. Heroes are supposed to not have prejudice. That's part of the duty they are burdened with. Be it someone unknown to them or someone most precious to them, they must in all their power save them all."

"And if they couldn't?"

"If the hero is given that choice, and I mean, if they cannot save everyone, it's sad to say that the last person they're supposed to save and the one most needing saving is themselves. It's a very hard decision, I tell you. Consequences of choices will always have these certain scars left only they themselves would see."

"Is it that hard and painful?"

"It always is with what ifs to everyone."

"What should the hero do then?"

"Be a hero."

Random Leaf #1559

"Keep your distance. Don't show your smile. If you can, don't show any emotion at all. You have to wear the facade of an honest man. Remember you're a liar. You know the truth and the truth that is your own. The line between is blurred but surely you can distinguish it. Keep it cool. This is your vow."

"The vow of no.."

"Don't say it. Never mention the word. Just keep it. Steel your heart. Keep it heavy, so none may ever steal it. This is your vow."

"If it gets painful?"

"Push through it. If you can no longer hold your tears, cry. But keep it a secret. It's not if it gets painful, it will become painful. Wear a mask, adore it with a facade of geniune smile. You're a liar, from now on and then. This is your vow."

"What if I.. What if I give up? What if along the way, I just decide to fall?"

"That is not your vow. You will break a promise. You will ultimately get hurt.

Random Leaf #1558

"It isn't. It's like unforeseen events. Not betrayal. Not what I had in mind."

"I swear, it likes having planned a vacation for a long time only for it to get cancelled in the last second. It's some sort of betrayal for me."

"Yeah, sure but a different kind of betrayal."

"Let me think of something else. You know, of you give me more context, I could give you a better answer."

"Someone I know-"

"Oh, I have one. Betrayal is like-"

Random Leaf #1557

"How do you.. What does betrayal feels like?"

"Religiously or philosophically?"

"Religious.. Philoso- No, I mean, just in general?"

"I don't know. I could go on with many things but it will be just cliched. I don't think you'd like any of what I had in mind."

"How do you-"

"It's like reading a very interesting book. And you get into a very intense and absorbing part. You know, like you're really into it. You're not just seeing letters and words but actual scenes, pictures and odd enough you can hear the voices and actions of the characters and the ambiance of the story."

"Then wha-"

"And when you turn the next page, you find pages torned. Yes, not just one page, but many. And the few hence are all smudged and dirtied. Either it's soaked, the print isn't clear, or someone deliberately doodled over the writing. You could make up a few words here and there but you would easily get lost. And that moment of brilliancy where you magically get connected with the fantasy world you are reading is totally severed."

"I can easily find what happens in the next part-"

"Yes, you can but do you think it would be easy? What if it takes you very long? And even if you do get to continue immediately, that magical connection you have is already broken. Your mind is no longer into the story. Your train of thought going deep into the fantastical tale gets derailed. You can still see the pictures in your mind and even hear the scenes and dialogues but it just isn't the same. If only you knew it would happen, you would have readied yourself."

"How do you cope with it?"

"Deep breathes."

"Deep brea- you mean, calm my mind, right?"

"Exactly."

"This isn't betrayal at all."

"It isn't?"

Random Leaf #1556

"There's no perks. There's bonuses or whatever you call that. He wasn't a genius nor was he even good at anything at all. He was just someone normal, ordinary. A mediocre of all mediocre. He has no defining trait. He's not special. He's just plain normal."

"So how did he do it?"

"For the first time in his life, he did what he wanted."

"And that's how he met his end."

"No, that's how he carved his name in history."

Random Leaf #1555

"Tell me, do you think someone who lets something evil happen commits a sin?"

"What do you-"

"Even if this certain someone is capable of stopping such evil, he lets it happen. Did he commit a sin?"

"You're not talking about the gods, right?"

Random Leaf #1554

"I kept the faith."

"Do not fret. You will be forgiven but you will not be save."

"I've done nothing wrong."

"That is your sin."

"What is?"

"You've done nothing."

"I've kept my faith."

"So were you forgiven."

"How can I be saved?"

"Do something."

Random Leaf #1553

"Tell me this. Do you know how to kill a dream?"

"A dream? To kill a dream?"

"You make people stop believing."

"What does it have to-"

"Now tell me. How do you kill a god?"

Random Leaf #1552

"Would you believe me if I told you that there will times when even the puppeteer had no power over what is going on with the puppets?"

"Isn't the puppeteer who moved them?"

"He is but he isn't the one who wrote the story."

"Can he not change the story?"

"There strings more glistening compared to others. Haven't you noticed? Much like how the strings connects the puppets to the his hands. They glistened when the puppeteer pulls up to his eyes and wipe his tears."

"He too cries."

"Can't he do anything?"

"He just move them. He has no power to rewrite the story."

"Does that not make him essentially less powerful?"

"He tugs and moves the strings. Who says he cannot cry?"

"Can'r he not change the story?"

"He can if he's the one who wrote the story."

"Isn't he?"

"Who knows."

Random Leaf #1551 in a different color

"You are no hero. And in the future to come, no one will sing your name. But my friend, take heart. The few who know will remember you. They will remember you, your name and the the greatest sacrifice you did."

"They live?"

"Yes, yes, they will live. You will save them."

Random Leaf #1550

"It's her smile that kept my match unkindled."

"You saw her with someone else."

"How could I be evil toward others if I could instead be evil toward myself?"

"You're a martyr now?"

"Like most fleeting moment. She too, in my mind, will past. For now, this world is still worth living."

"You what now?"

"Let's be on our way. These tools for arson is best used on better opportune. Instead of gasoline and flints, let our hands hold glasses and bottle of spirit."

"You're actually planning on-"

"Hush! Let's now go. The young is still you and my fond memories of her still need to be told, washed away and forgotten. Join me as we drown ourselves in delightful reverie."

"You're one dangerous drunkard, you know that."

"As all do soul who are and can still feel a beat in their heart."

Random Leaf #1549

"Warm wind on a rainy day. It was the first time he gave us a request. He usually gave orders. But mind you, he were never cold on us. He's strict but the kindness in his heart is always visible in his eyes. He can be harsh sometimes but we know he meant good. He cared for us as if we were his actual flesh and blood.

"I can not remember how things started that day. But I can clearly recall what he asked of us before he left."

"What did he ask?"

"He said to us, in his usual commanding voice: my final orders, live a good life and be happy."

"What happened after?"

Random Leaf #1548

"You can't always call those bruises and scars as trophies."

"But they are, these calluses, scratches, scars, wounds. These marks, they each tell different stories. Of how I survived the many things thrown at me. Of how I managed to overcome the many perils I faced. Of how-"

"Let yourself heal. They can't be called trophies if they're still bleeding. Heal. Recuperate. Rest. The storm may keep on raging but remember there always calm in between, before and after."

Random Leaf #1547

"All this power you have, why do you still find yourself lacking?"

"I could not save everyone."

"You cannot save everyone. That's the truth."

"What use is this power then?"

"You can save someone."

"..."

"If you're still worried. Why not start with yourself?"

"Myself?"

"Save yourself."

Random Leaf #1546

"In you, I see myself whom I cannot save."

"I'm not worthy to be saved. The world does not need me. I am not the hero this world wa-"

"Unnecessary!! Who cares what the world want. You're what the world truly need. And if you don't want to become the hero the world need. At the very least, save me."

Random Leaf #1545

"Unknown to them, you are the one most faithful."

"I'm the most useless among them."

"You know that isn't true."

"What else can I do?"

"Keep the faith."

"Faith? I'm faithful, you say?"

"Are you not?"

"You're the one who's ignorant if you say that. Don't you hear what I always say when things go south?"

"Yes, I do."

"How can I be faithful if I'm the one who complain the most, not to mention the one with the least amount of things done to help, can you tell me how?"

"Every night, you're waiting for that one good news. I know you aren't saying it. I know for real that you try your hardest to keep it away from your thought. Be it being jynxed or whatever your other belief is. But among all of you, you truly are, geniunely faithful."

"Good news?"

"Just keep the faith. That's all I ask of you."