May Vignette '23

[One Thread in a Tapestry]

Rest Not Here, Least Ye Be Still Forever

That's what the sign says, anyway. What on earth would it mean by that exactly? Looking out across the vast hills of blooming flowers, it was hard to imagine whoever made this could of meant something sinister by it. In fact, this place was utterly beautiful. In all his wandering from place to place, nothing was quite like this. An entire field for as far as he could see, covered completely in deep purple flowers that swayed in the breeze.

Perhaps it was meant more poetically, Lyric thought. Like it was just so pretty, you'd never want to leave. And perhaps they were right. Allowing himself a moment to be disarmed by his surroundings, Lyric pulled down his face covering, relying on the thick clouds above and his hood to shield him from the sun as he took it all in unobstructed.

"It's so pretty..." He muttered to himself, eyes scanning it all as he continued to walk the path cutting through it. The temptation to just go running through the flowers was very intense. He hadn't seen anybody around for so long, and this was all so scenic, he wanted so badly to let his guard down and enjoy something for once. As if responding to these intrusive thoughts, his legs stopped taking him forward. Instead, he felt himself primed to just sprint on through...

Oh... What could it hurt?

Feeling mischievous for once, the otherwise guarded vampire spun around to make double sure no one could see him... Before allowing himself a grin, taking off straight into all the flowers. Every step kicked up their pollen, and something like excitement caught up with him as he made for the hill he had been staring at. It's top seemed far away, but also the perfect spot to be!

Madly dashing through the field, he felt very near the end of his destination before something solid beneath of petals caught his foot, sending him crashing down into the gigantic flower bed. It didn't hurt, though, was unexpected. One moment he was running, the next he was spitting flower pedals out from between his fangs.

"Ouch..." He muttered to himself, embarrassed despite the lack of company. What on earth did he trip over? Looking back, the flowers were so thick he didn't immediately see it, but something else DID catch his attention: The flowers themselves. Or, rather, how comfortable he was. He realized very quickly that though he did not quite make it to the tippity top, this... Was perfectly fine. More than that, this felt good enough rest in.

With a light push he rolled himself over and allowed a moment of silence. Ah, this was so nice. The smell of the pollen that had gotten all over him was a bit strong, but being undead, this didn't bother him so much. No allergies! Lucky for him. Stretching his limbs out, Lyric felt the urge to yawn, this pillow of flowers comforting him getting the best of him. It had been a while since his last feeding, and when that was the case, he would occasionally 'sleep'.

And goodness, this inspired him to sleep.

What's the worst that could happen? If the sun burned him he'd wake, and there was no one to be seen for miles. He found a little peace here, half buried in flowers, and their overwhelming smell gently eased him into a quick and restful slumber...

...
..
.


The smell of oranges caught him next. A tasty treat.

"Lyric," Came a familiar voice. "Breakfast! Wake up!"

Lyric stirred in his bed, the thick blanket getting pulled closer to his chest in defiance. This was too comfy, too warm to want to so easily give up. Those oranges though...

"Lyric?" The voice was closer now, more inquisitive. He could feel the eyes on him, even as he pretended not to be awake. It didn't take long for the person to come and pull at his blanket to challenge his ruse. "C'mon now, I know you hear me."

A smirk; Lyric was caught. "Alright De, I'm awake..." Still, he pulled at his blanket. "Just a while more-"

"I don't think so. Ma won't like that."

His mother. Oh, of course, she wouldn't like that at all. Of course she'd send his brother after him. With a groan, Lyric surrendered, and pulled off his blanket. As much as he complained, he was not unhappy. How could he be? Sitting up and rubbing the tired out of his eyes, Lyric blinked at the sight of his room. The window let the morning sun in, and from his bed, he could smell breakfast. It smelled delicious.

His brother, his own twin, offered a hand to further encourage him to move. He smiled and cocked his head as he held it aloft in the direction of the door in a gesture that plained asked 'Coming?', to which, Lyric took it. With a pull, he escaped his comfortable bed and gave one last yawn to whisk away the night.

De moved on without him to the kitchen as Lyric took to the wall mounted mirror to do some very quick fixing up. Mostly, to be rid of his bed head. He pulled back his short black hair so it would not hang over his green eyes and tan skin he shared with his twin brother, whose own bed rested opposite side of the room. Oh if only he hadn't stayed up so long last night reading...

When it was all said and done, Lyric went out into the big front room, where his mother's kitchen was hot with activity.

"There you are." Came his mother's voice, "Sleeping through breakfast isn't good for you you know." She said, Lyric seeing her squeezing orange slices over a hot pan filled with candied walnuts and the smell of cinnamon. Oh, how it sang to him...

"Sorry." Lyric said, stomach rumbling now, knowing how wonderful it all smelled to him. "Do you want some help?"

To that, his mother laughed. "No, not at all, just sit down."

His brother was already ahead of him, plate set, and legs kicking in his seat in anticipation. Quick to take his own seat across from him, Lyric occupied his wait time by looking about, seeing how the hanging flowers were doing upon the window sill, and the occasional waft of morning dew reaching him from a gentle breeze making it's way in with the sun. It was a beautiful morning, he could see, and their wooden home did little to damped the sound of song birds congregating in their outside garden. It was weirdly striking to him, perhaps just glad to of had a wink of good sleep, to silently appreciate all they had here.

"Sleep alright?" His mother said as she brought them the little bowl of goodies, putting it onto their plate before accompanying it with small rolls of bread.

"Mhmm." Lyric said, his brother thanking her before they both set about eating breakfast. His brother would pull apart the roll, smothering the candy walnuts over and within. He was clever like that. "Does father need any help?"

"Ah, not from our little bookworm." She said, sitting down with them. "Your brother offered to help trim the garden before you even woke up."

Trying not to swoon over the sweet taste of it all, through a mouthful of walnuts, Lyric relented. "I can still help, the garden is large enough for three of us."

"You just keep up with your schooling." She offered, "You were supposed to read to the Willbrooks this afternoon anyway in case you forgot. I know you'll be pulling your hair out trying to find the time for it if you don't get an early start today."

Lyric paused his chewing. Oh. He... Had forgotten. Yeah, that was probably a good call. His mother knew him too well. Swallowing what was left in his mouth, he gave a conceited smile. "Ah... right. Thanks mom. You're good at that."

"Good at what? Knowing you?" She victoriously grinned at him. "I know."

He loved his mom. With the days plans seemingly out of the way, the three of them enjoyed their breakfast, chatting away about nothing at all while at the same time just enjoying each other's company. Lyric enjoyed busy days, it made him feel like he was a part of something to have others rely on him, even if it's for menial things. In this case, reading stories to children, which doesn't sound all that interesting until you've seen the looks on their faces with every plot twist, disappointment at ever end, and eagerness when asking when they can read the next bit.

This was a quiet, unremarkable, peaceful life... But it was his, and he could ask for nothing more than to have it go on just like this forever. He read in a book once that people never realize when they are in the 'good' times until after they have passed, but to Lyric's credit, he felt he knew exactly what those were, and these were the days he was having it.

Lyric went onto have his busy little day. His schooling was trite, and it was over and done with before long. He hoped to become a scribe someday and study in university with minds brighter than him, so he could learn as much as he could off them and make his little family proud. After that, he took the little ongoing fable he had been reading and went about his quaint little town, reading to groups of kids at first, before ending the day by visiting and reading to the ones who couldn't make it out of their home. He hated the idea of missing their story time just because they got sick that day! Either everyone got to hear it or none of them did.

By the end of the day, time had felt like it had dragged on. It had been a busy day indeed. So busy, he nearly didn't make it home in time for dinner. By then, he had walked in as the table was being set.

"I'm home!!" Lyric said, panting from the running as he clutched his big bound book to his chest. His mother and brother paused to see him, full of understanding.

"How'd it go?" De asked, helping mom put things on plates.

"Juno was sick today so I went to his place to keep him updated on the reading..." Lyric said, slowing his walking to catch his breath as he approached the door to his room. "That... Hill is so steep!"

They laughed at Lyric for that one, even as he pushed the door open and aside to go and place his heavy book onto his desk where it belongs. It was surprisingly exhaustive work lugging that damn thing around! But, at least he felt it was worth it to see the excitement when he arrived with it. By the time he had come back out, everyone was sitting down... With one notable exception.

"Where's father?"

"He left a little while ago to the town square. I don't think he'll be having dinner with us."

"Town square? But I was just over there..." It was quite a distance from where they lived too. "If he needed something I could have gotten it."

"And how would he tell you? By raven? Don't worry about it, have a seat."

With a bit of a disappointed sag to his shoulders Lyric took his seat at the table, the absence being felt. Though, it was mitigated by the amused sneering coming from his brother across from him. Not that he was having any of that. "What?"

"Daddy's boy." De was quick to answer.

"Oh hardly!"

"Settle down..." Mother chimed in, stopping any kind of escalation before it could gain momentum. Within moments, she was sliding dishes of roasted apples and stuffed quail onto the table for each of them. "Eat up! I'm sure you're hungry from all the marching today."

That was an understatement. Lyric would be lucky to gain any weight doing this as often as he did. Without a word though, the smell of apples teasing his nose, Lyric pulled his plate closer and stabbed into the dainty little bird with his knife, plucking the meat off it before chowing down. Delicious!

"What are you doing?" He heard a familiar voice say across from him. "You know you can't eat solid food."

Ignoring his brother's incredibly bizarre statement long enough to swallow, he cocked an eyebrow and lifted his gaze to De. "De what in the sway are you talking about?" Though, not a moment after the words escaped him did he notice something...

"De..." He paused, stunned into stupor. "What... What happened to you?" He could hardly believe what he was looking at. His brother was... Pale. Deathly pale, practically blue. His eyes were a deep red, and his entire viage looked so... Deathly.

Wordlessly, De took a napkin and wiped his mouth, two fingers tracing the corners of his lips in a way that pulled his mouth open, the glint of gnarly fangs on both the bottom and top of his mouth shown to Lyric. It made his blood freeze. With an uncaring look in his eyes, De just stared back at Lyric as if this were all very routine.

"You'll vomit if you eat solid food."

Lyric was frozen. What? His words made no sense. Why did he look this way? "Wh-... What?"

"... Do you even know what an apple actually tastes like?"

Lyric blinked, his shock apparent on his face. Briefly, feeling a pang of worry and fear, he glanced to his mother but... She was eating as if nothing awry was happening. Swiftly returning to his brother, Lyric lost his appetite. "De... What's wrong with you? What are you talking abou..."

Nausea. It came so fast it had interrupted him completely, feeling himself suddenly drooling like mad as his body was overwhelmed with the feeling of wanting- No, NEEDING to vomit. It took what little he had to bring his hand up to his mouth, but it was already too late, feeling it swiftly becoming up from his throat and spewing his stomach contents out from between his fingers onto his plate, table and floor.

It wasn't much. But it didn't have to be.

"OH-!" That seemed to have finally startled his mother, shock on her face as she swiftly got up from the table in dismay.

Lyric was too taken aback by it all, not knowing what to do, frozen in disbelief as he felt another urge to wretch and just let it happen... Sitting there, not knowing what to do. And De... Saying nothing. Doing nothing. Looking at him as if Lyric should have known better all along.

"Gods, Lyric, are you ok...?" His mother said, voice full of worry as she quickly approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder, perhaps also wondering what she could immediately do for him. Lyric lurged again, not even knowing what the devil was coming up and out of him at this point, before gasping for breath the moment it was over and taking his useless hand away. It was... a mess. "Don't move honey- I've got you." His mom was quick to say, realizing she probably wouldn't do any good standing beside him, rushing to the kitchen to gather a rag.

But Lyric was still stunned. What...? Why...? Why did he puke? Slowly, his gaze rose back up to De again... Seeing the look on his pale white face. A look of knowing, and disappointment. This... Was not his brother. Who was this!?

"Be still." Lyric heard his mother say, not even looking at her as she swiftly came to him with a damp cloth, grabbing a hold of his head before rubbing away at his mouth and nose. For all the handling she was doing, Lyric couldn't pull his attention away from De. This 'thing' in his brother's place, it felt alien to him, like a stranger had come and sit down at their table and no one but him even seemed to notice.

His mother drew back the rag, clear concern for him plastered all over her face. "Go clean up Lyric, I'll take care of this..."

"M-Mom..." He wanted to scream, but it came out sounding more like a scared fawn. Why didn't she see him!?

"Go."

Such a short and simple order. Lyric gawked for just a moment before his drive to do as she said seemed to help him onto his legs, picking himself up from the table. His gaze never left the imposter, who wordlessly watched him in turn as he circled around the table to get to his room, giving him a wide birth as if scared he would attack. Lyric's heart was going so fast, he practically slammed the door behind him the moment he got to his room, the sudden solitude making him feel like it was okay to quake a little.

What was that? Was he sick? One of the kids he visited today was ill... Perhaps it had spread to him? This must of been a strange delusion, he thought. Maybe he was imagining things. After all, his mother didn't react at all. Feeling the weight of this line of thought settle in, Lyric looked down at himself, seeing where he had gotten his mess all down his front thanks to his genius reaction to try and stop himself from puking with his hand. Not his brightest moment...

Trying to calm down still, he took himself to the mirror. He'd clean himself up, then would probably sit down and evaluate what to do from there. Leaning his weight forward onto his dresser, he looked at his own reflection, seeing the stain on his clothes. This would have to go. Without a second thaught, be began to undo his top, before he noticed something else in his reflection...

A bit of a smudge on his face, from where his mother had wiped away at him. It looked odd though... It was clearly where his mother had cleaned up, but the color seemed off in a weird way. Perhaps it was the candle light? Lyric instinctually brought his sleeve up to his mouth, dragging it across to wipe whatever it was off him... Only to look again and see the stain was even worse, coming across his mouth, nose and cheek now.

It was pale... Grey looking, in this dim light. Confused, he leaned closer to the mirror, turning his head side to side, trying to figure out what he was looking at here, before bringing his hand up to his face and trying to rub away at it again.

His skin tone was coming off...

... What? No, that can't be, right? He gave it another wipe, just two fingers, so he could watch it come off. Sure enough, his skin tone was lifting off of him like make up, a much deathlier pale giving way underneath. This gave him a jolt of fear, worries emerging anew. It had to be a trick of the light, or something with his mind, right? Huffing through his nose, he gripped the collar of his top, pulling it up onto his face to aggresivly scrub it away. Surely, if he did it all over enough, his mind would stop playing this trick on him and it would correct itself. But when he stopped and looked at the results...

His face was white, nearly blue. He could see the dark spots under his eyes, like a restless corpse, with only the very tips of his hairline and ears, places he did not scrub at, with his actual skin tone. And his eyes... Those eyes... Were so, so red.

"You remembering now?"

Lyric's heart caught in his throat, the sound of the voice from so close by startling him so badly he jumped. A panicked whimper escaped his lips briefly, spinning around, looking for where that came from. "W-What!?"

"Here."

Here? Lyric spun about again, seeing nothing, until he noticed the mirror again. His reflection... Was not mirroring him. It leaned out, past the mirror itself, as if it were a simple windowsill. Lyric could have died of fright.

"You having fun playing your little game here?" It asked, a calm tone, trying to have some kind of conversation with him. "Seems kind of sad honestly."

"W-W-What are you talking about!?" Lyric finally relented, clutching his shirt to his chest but to his own credit, he didn't run. "Who are you!?"

"Who am I? So you don't remember then?"

"Remember what!? Speak plainly! What are you!? Are you in my mind?"

The doppelganger blinked at him to that, seeming to either be annoyed by Lyric's answers or otherwise discouraged by him. "... You know none of this is true, right?" He said it so matter of factly, Lyric couldn't answer. "You don't live in a cozy wooden cottage. You don't have a mom... You don't have a brother. You don't even know what an orange really tastes like, do you?"

What was Lyric supposed to say to that? "I..." He started to speak, but swiftly realized he didn't know what to say. What it was speaking was so plainly absurd, he didn't even know where to begin other than outright denial.

Sensing this, the copy glared at him, as if trying to get through to Lyric with assertion alone. "You drink other people's blood. You don't even have a truly beating heart. You can't even remember what it was like to ever be alive, yet you're staying here pretending you do...?"

Lyric was stunned silent. What it was saying couldn't be true, and yet, as it got his mind reeling he was turning over memories in his head to try and refute it. That was nonsense! A falsehood! Of course he was alive, that was plainly absurd!

"Minds have a funny thing they do sometimes." His mirror-self went on, "To fill in the blanks and explain away anything that conflicts with what we think is true. You want this to be true, huh?"

"But... It IS true. What you're saying... Everything you've said... It's a lie! You-... You are a figment of my mind!"

"Oh? What is your mother's name?"

What? Um. "Ah... Alice!" Why did he have to think of that?

"And your dad?"

"Um..."

"What does he look like?"

Lyric... Stopped. Why did he... Not know? In his head, a face came to mind, but something else within him told him that it wasn't it. Like a part of him knew it wasn't true, wasn't convincing enough. Even his mother's name, he just... Came up with it, and instantly that became true in his head. Indeed, it was always true! He just misremembered briefly!

"... It's not me you need to convince." The doppelganger said, practically reading Lyric's mind. Lyric snapped out of his thoughts, feeling a sting. Then, a deep pit in his gut. If he was just convincing himself of his own surroundings, then... "Remembering now?"

The words reached Lyric, but as his mind spiraled into the possibility, he naturally thought to seek remembrance. What did he do yesterday...? He could feel his mind coming up with plausible answers, but he realized as they occurred to him the falsity of them all. When was his birthday? How old was he? Answers, answers, answers... They would come up, but rang of falsity. His mind... His mind wanted to believe he had a birthday. That he was here, and now. That part of your mind that fishes for answers in old memories, filling in the details, embellishing a little more on every recountance... It's like it was working overtime.

The effort of it all, of this slow revelation, trying to sort out what was true and what was false in his own head had Lyric shutting his eyes tightly from the effort, the world around him vanishing as this took all his effort...

Before being brought back to the surface with the feeling of cold hands on his cheeks.

Lyrics eyes shot open, forgetting himself a moment, only to see his copy standing right in front of him, clutching his face by the cheeks and staring into his eyes. For all the fear and denial in Lyric now, he, bizarrely, felt no such thing anymore looking into those red orbs.

"I am your beast. The part of you that will always be there." It said calmly, holding Lyric's face gently. "The part you hope to bury, but cannot. I am your hunger... And no matter where you run to, I'll remain."

His beast...

Lyric's eyes lit up anew; A memory. A horrid, terrible memory. A memory of waking up in horror and fear, covered in blood, with two bodies at his feet and a burning ashen sky above him. It felt like a memory from another life. Or, rather... All of this did.

A glint of recognition in the beast's face, finally showing a little smile. "Ah. NOW you remember?"

He... Did. Lyric, much to his own distaste, did. He remembered the taste of blood, how it felt to not belong anywhere he went. He could recall the misery and cold, and how much he missed the warmth of other's bodies and affection. The utter dread at ever losing control again kept him ever in check, and the anxiety of being discovered kept him ever wandering. His life was not... This. Indeed, he did not live at all.

Through a shutter in his shoulders, Lyric felt a welling up of emotions. This was revelation, yes, but was revelation meant to feel so... Empty? Unable to contain himself, Lyric shuttered once again and tried to suppress a cry. But, the beast was still before him. He never let his hands off Lyric's cheeks.

"There there..." He said. "I'm not here to take you back."

What? Lyric sniffed, trying to swallow the frog in his throat, confused now by his actions. "Then... Why?"

"I knew if there was one thing you would of hated more than waking up, it would be letting me take the reigns." He brushed a thumb over Lyric's cheek, stopping a tear before it fell. "For if you stay in here, well, I still need to feed."

"Lyric?" The voice of his mother at the door couldn't of come at a worse time. The prospect his beast spoke of, if he understood it right... Was far and above his greatest nightmare come true. The door swung open, and his concerned mother peered inside.

"I won't stop you from staying." His beast spoke, not acknowledging the mother figure. "I don't think I could even blame you for it."

Mother stepped inside, acting as if his copy wasn't even there, not going beyond the doorway. "Lyric? Are you okay? I've got some medicine for your stomach if you want to talk to me about it."

Lyric wanted to respond, to call her mom, but... Instead, he looked at his beast again, reaching up and taking his hand into his own. "But if I stay..."

"I still need to feed. And if you're not going to do it, well..."

That made Lyric's stomach drop.

"Honey?" His mom said, still awaiting a response, apparently not able to see he was talking with his worse half.

"It might not be so bad, you know?" His beast said. "Staying here I mean. You don't have to worry about what I get up to or anything. You can just... Be here. Enjoy your little family, even if none of it is real. You would be shocked to find out how easy that would be to ignore."

He made a point. This life here... Even now, remembering he was a vampire, it still felt so real to him. It hurt his heart to even imagine that this wasn't all really there. He didn't want to disappoint all the kids he read to, even knowing they weren't real. He loved his mom, his brother, his dad... He wanted to stay. To help tend the garden. To pursue his school.

He wanted so badly to live.

"Mom..." Lyric said, finally acknowledging her. She perked up for him, all ears, and Lyric took his time just... Staring at her. Trying, trying, and trying to just see her in any other light. To pierce the illusion and, at least for a moment, see her for the fraud it all was. Yet... He could not. In any other dream, it would often end the moment he realized it was a dream. But not this. She was... Too real to him. So it hurt. Chocking momentarily, Lyric couldn't help but just say how he felt. "I love you."

"Love you too Honey. Is... Everything ok?"

Lyric felt like those words broke him inside. "N-No..." He muttered through hardly contained sobs.

"Oh, sweetie..." She opened her arms for him. "Come here. It's okay, I'll clean the mess for you. These things happen, nothing to be ashamed about." She was inviting him into her arms, and right now, there was nothing he wanted more than to run into them. The comfort of a parent would help drown away all these terrible sorrows, and let him forget the ugly truth.

But, that wouldn't be his fate, would it?

Lyric gripped his beast's hand so tightly, as if he wanted to break it off, biting his lip to struggle not to scream. He couldn't let his beast loose. He just couldn't. For the sake of never killing anybody like that again, his own happiness was irrelevant. To just forgo that responsibility for this sweet dream... Was unthinkable.

"I... I hate you." He muttered through gritted teeth, blood trailing down his lip where he bit too hard. His beast, in turn, smiled.

"I know."

Well of emotions flooding forth, Lyric finally let out a scream. A scream of agony, and woe for what he had here. And not a moment later, with more malice than he had reserved for anybody, he lifted his beast's hand- his own hand- and bit it hard.

...
..
.

With a start, Lyric stirred. A groan of discomfort as the world around him came into existence, waking from a deep slumber. But, this was no simple morning wake. Immediately becoming more and more apparent to him, lyric felt dozens and dozens sharp needling pains, all over his body. And as they stirred him to wake, he realized his vision was being blotted out by... Flowers?

He tried to lift a hand only to feel something tug at it. Same with a leg. What the sway? As he came to wake faster and faster, he tried lifting his head, only to feel that too finding some resistance. All the flowers that surrounded him, exactly where he had lay, had bent down as if to give him kisses... Where needle like maws stuck to his skin like octopus suckers, digging in and drinking his blood.

These were carnivorous flowers, preying on those who fell unconscious here. Their pollen drugged those who got enough of it to sleep, granting sweet dreams of one's greatest desires as they drained the poor souls of all their life. Though, perhaps, it did not work so well on an undead like him. After all, taking a vampire's blood would just make them hungry... Which no doubt would cause them to wake.

Realizing what they were doing, Lyric panicked and wretched his hands away, pulling free of the flowers and before swiftly starting to rip them off his face. Blood drinking flowers!? What the hell!? That's horrible! He stumbled to his fast as he could, kicking at the flowers that had attached through his clothing. They certainly seemed far less pretty now that was for sure!

Still, being flowers, they weren't exactly the strongest plants. The effect of their pollen, even now, made Lyric feel drowsy and off balance, but the shock of waking up to such a thing certainly put a pep in his little morning routine. Brushing himself off, he collected himself and began to realize what all had happened here. And, well, remembered the sweet dream he had.

Being fully awake now, he felt about it much the same way he felt about most of his dreams: Silly he bought so much into it, and usually forgotten moments after waking up, like it never even happened. But, this dream was, well... Still admittedly fresh in his mind. It still made him feel a little foolish, especially since he could have found his final death here, but the memories of a life he never had was... Something that would hang in his mind longer than most.

As he began to walk back down the hill, he minded the thing he had tripped on before, brushing it aside with his foot as he passed and stopping in his tracks. It was a human skull, covered by the flowers. No doubt... A victims, a little less lucky than him.

He wondered, briefly, what this person's last sweet dream was about, and if he would have chosen to wake up if given the chance? Based on his experience...


Probably not.

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End~

Hope anyone who reads this likes it! I'mma call this little story 'canon' to my character lol