The world was black, white, and occasionally gray.
Every time Blake recalls that bright orange night, the yellow flames that lit up the skies as though it were day.
All colors seemed to disappear within the void in his heart.
Everything was taken from him that day. Not just his dear ones but also the normal emotions that humans were born to feel.
Silence and indifference filled his heart that was numb and cold.
Devoid of love, trust, care, anger, hate, sadness, greed, happiness, fear.
But that was just the beginning.
Having to stay in that lifeless and loveless house after knowing warmth and affection, a child as young as six could feel his fragile mentality cracking. All the warmth and love he had accumulated inside a glass jar in his heart was thrown on the ground by them. The glass jar shattered into pieces, leaking out all the good inside. Something that he had been unconsciously suppressing since the day he was born into this world at last revealed itself in its fitting, nourishing environment.
In order to protect himself, and with the development of his repressed true nature, he inevitably and uncontrollably shut off his heart and stopped caring. The initial and continuous suffocation, pressure, and fear he felt in that house disappeared like magic the moment he did so.
He thought he was right to do so, and eventually, he lost the key to his own heart that was sealed away with his own hands.
The young child with black hair and black eyes ceased to care about others, no longer willing to consider their unbearable opinions and self-righteous acts.
He forgot how to feel.
He forgot what it was like to be surrounded by warmth and light.
He forgot his breathless, cold parents.
He forgot that nightmarish house.
Yet that house always stayed in the back of his mind, reminding him inconspicuously from time to time that he would never be able to escape its influence.
It lingered around him like the never fading gloom that always followed the pale young man around.
Occasionally on dark and sleepless nights, Blake would keep himself awake, resisting the desire to close his eyes and drift off. Because once he falls asleep, he would immediately be woken up by a nightmare from the past.
Their strict and cold voices telling him he was not good enough.
Her harsh screeches whenever he made a mistake in front of his tutors.
Them telling him he was an embarrassment to their family name.
The small, freezingly cold room devoid of anything except a bed.
Only music kept him company through it all.
The light, the dark, the fast, the slow, the upbeat, the depressed. They were the only ones who stayed with him through it all. They were what kept up his spirits when he could still feel, when he could still see the colors dull as they were.
Eventually, being surrounded by music became a habit even after he no longer felt anything and did not need their comfort any longer.
Sometimes, he even had this illusion—a vague opening was created in his guarded heart, letting in colors and feelings for that moment, only as long as the melody lasts.
In his heart, the coldness seems to thaw and the numbness seems to lighten.
But after it ended, Blake was still Blake.
Cold.
Indifferent.
Numb.
—The world was a vast painting of black and white.
Year after year, even after he had gotten out of there, they still haunt him like living ghosts.
With every passing day, the chains around his body, wrapped around his heart, grew heavier and heavier, and his breath became fainter and fainter. Like the undead, alive and unable to die, Blake lived on colder than a corpse.
Eventually, he found himself incapable of falling asleep.
Yet in his gloom, he found solace.
He found that… when the entire world goes silent…
No noises or voices from humans, no singing from the critters, no breeze in the night.
No sound of any sort or kind.
Except for the soft melody of a lullaby he vaguely remembered his parents humming to him as a child.
In those times, he can peacefully wrap himself in a dreamless blanket and rest.
He never yearned for warmth, for he had obtained it and it left him. So he didn't think he was meant for it nor was it meant for him.
In his life, people came and went, and Blake no longer bothered with who got close to him, who left, and who stayed.
In the end, Blake became the shadow on the ground that nobody notices. Only occasional bumps that showed he was not an intangible shadow but a living human being caused the other party to see him.
Even then, everyone soon forgets about him.
He was as fleeting as a shadow.
As unnoticeable as the darkness at night.
As pale as the glowing silver moon in the night sky.
When day comes,... he will be no more.
"Here you go, a doll-sized headset. I know you like the colors black and white, and since the doll is already dressed in mostly black, I thought it would be better for the headset to be in white to better complement the robes. What do you think?"
A naturally teasing voice, but, as though it were an illusion, full of warmth, sounded in Blake's ears, its bright, colorful words directed at him.
Blake felt a slight heaviness as his hands sank slightly as another pair of hands carefully held the doll in place while gently placing the white headset on top of the doll's gorgeous, silky black hair that glimmered like stardust.
Suddenly, Blake noticed a small, hidden detail that he never would have noticed before.
A flash of jade green and gold on the two sides of the headset attracted his eyes.
Drawn into the shape of a treble clef on one side and a bass clef on the other, glittering and shiny, reflective paint made them flash with every caress of the light.
Blake's eyes widened in surprise.
All of a sudden, what should've appeared to him as black and white suddenly shone with brilliant colors. Colors that have long been lost to his eyes, to his heart, shook off the black and white crumbs of paint that have finally dried and fallen off of them, revealing their true selves.
A ripple washed through the pair of clean, dark eyes.
"That's… green?" Blake hesitantly pointed at the treble clef that was painted with jade green paint.
"Yes." Levi nodded. "Jade green, to be precise."
"And that's ye… yellow?" Blake was a bit confused and doubtful when he asked, he had never seen yellow this bright and metallic before when he was a child, before all he could see was monochrome.
He had never known the color gold so he mistook it for yellow, its closest companion.
This time Levi shook his head, but with no sign of reproach or mockery for Blake's inability to discern and tell apart colors, the most elementary of skills. With a good nature, Levi cheerfully corrected, "No, that's what we call 'gold'."
"Gold…" Blake repeated to himself in a low mutter. "Gold…"
Gold…
Gold.
Gold—
The color was so bright and brilliant, alive and vivid, that it dazzled Blake's eyes that had only seen the world in dull, colorless shades.
"I like it," Blake suddenly said as he delicately stroked the dried paint of the clef symbols.
Looking up at the smiling Levi, although Blake was silent on the surface, his heart was not.
Levi was honestly surprised. He was not expecting Blake to express himself like that, let alone like something.
When Levi saw Blake for the first time, he could see that Blake was different. Not to mention his appearance that was the exact black and white that was the other's favorite colors, but his entire atmosphere and the fact that nobody can notice him, Levi could tell he was special.
Yes. Special. Not abnormal. Not strange.
In a way, Levi felt that he and Blake were alike. As for in what aspect, Levi also had no idea, it was just a feeling he had when he saw him.
Levi took a liking to Blake at first sight and felt that it was only natural for Blake to be at his side.
Even Levi was inexplicable about this sudden feeling that seemed to come to him from his soul.
"I'm glad," Levi sighed in genuine relief.
Then flapping open his fan as though to hide his nervousness and expectation, Levi said with the intention to retreat in order to advance, "I must be going now, I still have lots of important work to do. You can get back to work now. I permit you to take some breaks in between, don't work yourself to death to impress your employer~"
With that, Levi turned around to make his exit.
As he walked across the hall, passing maids and servants greeted him politely with a bow and a call before rushing off busily to attend to their duties for the day.
"Sir Levi." Yet another passing staff greeted Levi before going on their way.
This time, however, after the staff left, out of the blue, Levi slowed to a stop.
With a wave of his fan, Levi elegantly swirled around in curiosity and amusement. His jade green robes arched in the air as it imitated his movements.
"Pray tell, mind I ask why you are following me?"
His tone had no ups and downs, sounding perfectly normal, but if Ian were here, he would immediately be able to tell that Levi did not mind one bit that the person behind him was following him quietly like a little follower.
The little follower with his black hair and black eyes remained silent, his eyes downcast showing no desire to explain himself.
Seeing this scene, Levi did not question him any further and merely went on his way, tacitly agreeing to the other's actions.
From then on, Levi gained a little tail.