"They are waiting for you, Monsieur Lubbock", a dark woman poked her head into the dressing room, "It's almost time for the show."

The bajillion young ladies that were powdering his nose scattered away.

His face was pink with heat and he wore a long fancy coat. It almost looked odd on his somewhat small figure.

"I'll be right there", he answered, gussying up in the mirror.

"Aww, you're leaving already, Monsieur?", some of the girls came up to him.

He chuckled modestly.

"What can I say? The life of the greatest singer in the world isn't so relaxing, my dears."

"You might be the greatest singer, but Monsieur is also the life of all women's hearts", one of the cheekier ones commented.

Lubbock laughed. He didn't try to hide how much he loved being pampered like this.

"I'm sorry, girls. My audience awaits!"

Saying so, he shot out of the room and hurried towards the stage. Backstage was always heated just before his shows. He was the one star that every theater wanted to have. But he was a free spirit. He'd never tie himself down with a label. He was fond of everything posh, but what really mattered the most to him was that he was so loved. People wanted to see him. The simple fact was enough to make him ecstatic.

"You'll be on there in a bit", the dark woman appeared again, "Remember the sequence?"

"Of course, I do, June. Please don't worry so much", he fixed his collar.

June fixed her glasses and gave him a nervous look, "It's my job to worry, Lubbock."

She was much informal when no one else was listening in.

"Alright, I'm hyped for this! Just watch me today, June. You'll surely be impressed today", Lubbock said, stepping on to the stage.

June smiled to herself. Of course, she wouldn't be impressed. She knew he had the potential for it.

The cheers and claps betrayed the decorum of the opera house. The ladies dressed in arrays of beautiful gowns, all differently colored, the men with taste, smoking their fancy cigars, the nobles sitting in their box at the back, and the perfumes that filled the opera house. All of it made the world a little lighter. The glittering lights and glasses of champagne topped it all.

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Standing in the middle of the stage, as he took it all in, amidst a round of applause, Lubbock smiled wide.

"Welcome all!", he began, "What a wonderful night!"

The applause paused, just before the harmonies filled the air.

"And thus, to this absolutely perfect world, I sing!"

******************************

"I think that's very like you to like a world like that", I said, sitting cross legged beside him.

I was looking up at the red sky. For some reason, no one else was around.

"I think, you're the most human-like among all of us. So it's only fair that you'd want a world that's so filled with shoddy things. Just like normal human beings....No, I'm lying. I understand you, perfectly."

I took a deep drag of the cigarette that I had stolen from Chopper's corpse in another world.

"It isn't those shoddy, shimmering, blindingly ugly things you crave for, Lubbock. I'm perfectly aware of that."

I dare not face him. Or rather, whatever was left of him. He was a mass of bloodied meat. Completely deformed, just as he had been that day when we fought so hard against the red sky.

"I know what you desire is normalcy. To be seen as a normal human being. You want to be ordinary, nothing more. But that's what makes you so human, Lubbock. The odd ones almost never dream of normalcy. Because it isn't something they know of. But you, my friend, are different."

I knew Lubbock was listening, even if he couldn't answer me.

"It's such a contrast, this world and that. I cleaved it just that cleanly. I made sure there'd be such a contrast."

I felt my voice was leaving me. The cigarette was exceptionally bitter, it burned my throat.

"I don't think you were ever saved by Lady", I began after a pause, "She found you too late. You'd already saved yourself back then. You may have slaughtered Agartha. You may have been a monster. But then...you grew up. By the time you met Lady, you had already left it all behind. You'd burned everything. So I don't think you were ever saved by anyone."

The red sky wasn't going to dissipate, I knew that. But I kept staring at it, nonetheless.

"To think, we were all just existing side by side, only to save each other...it seems like a complete failure now. Do you understand, Lubbock?"

I didn't expect an answer.

"June is dead. You only thought you helped her. Lady only wished she'd saved her. If only...if only, someone had saved her..."

I felt alone all of a sudden. Lubbock wasn't listening anymore. I felt bad that it had to be the last thing he got to hear. But then, I comforted myself by saying what did it matter anyway. This world was ruined. As long as I could create a new one, it didn't matter who died and what they heard before dying.

"I'll let her stay in a perfect world with you. Though I doubt she'll ever find anything perfect in any world. But if you're by her side, I'm sure, you can continue to save her everyday. Perhaps one day, you'll make a world for her that I simply cannot."

I don't think I believed what I said but I left his side anyway. The cigarette had burned away and I didn't feel like sticking around. I tossed the cigarette butt aside and stood up. I didn't look back at him. I simply left.