"Wait!" I interrupted Arthur when he was about to speak. He gave me the 'what the hell?' look. "Let's sit down before we talk. My stomach still hurts."
Arthur nodded. Arthur grabbed my arm and helped me as I sat down. When we both sat down, we had an awkward silence. Arthur was shrinking himself every moment.
"So?"
"I'm so sorry." Arthur's head was down.
"Wow, that came right to the point. So what the sorry about?"
"I don't know how I should tell you." Arthur looked at me for a brief moment before looking away. Arthur took a deep breath before continuing. "You know the reason why you are in this state is because of me. If I had paid more attention, you wouldn't be in this state. It's because of me. You got kidnapped seven years ago." Arthur let out a small sob. Was he crying? "All because I'm weak. If I had just screamed or fought back, I could have saved you. We could have been a happy family." I opened my mouth to say something to say, but he kept on continuing. Arthur was crying. I never really thought of him weak."I should have been there for you as a big brother; instead, I was the trash that almost got you killed. I should have been the one to be kidnapped or killed instead."
I lost it when I heard that last sentence. How dare he think of himself like that? At least have some self-respect or pride.
I got up and punched him right across his left cheek. Blood started to trail down his lips. Arthur slowly embraced his left cheek as he looked at me in shock. I was in shock myself since I didn't really mean to punch him. My body just moved on his own, but it felt good. At least, I shut him up, and he will listen to me now. "Did that knock some sense into you? I never thought of you, some weak kid, or some trash. I respect you as my older brother, and I know you are strong. I am pretty sure other kids you're age isn't half as good as you are."
"But-"
"No, buts. I never even thought it was your fault. No, I didn't even think of it. I was happy when I first met you. I was proud to have a big brother that I can finally look up to. Someone I can compete against. Someone I could proudly shout out to. Someone I could argue and win. Someone I feel comfortable with. Someone I can care deeply about." I took a deep breath and reached out a hand. "Someone I could proudly say you are my big brother, so don't look down on the past; instead, look brightly in the future. A future where we will stand together and fight along with each other."
I know he was only a twelve-year-old, but he gotta stop being this emotionally weak. People like that usually die earlier in life, especially on the battlefield.
Arthur stared at me. He gave me a cautious look and wiped his tears away. He had stopped crying and had a fierce stare that I liked, even though his whole face was puffed up. Arthur grabbed my hand and gave me a natural smile. It wasn't like the smiles like before. This was more sincere. He came in and hugged me.
"I will be the best brother that you and Ami can look up too."
"That's the spirit." Arthur's hand up to his swollen cheek.
"Did have to punch me so hard, though?" I gave him an awkward smile. My hand went up to the back of my head. We both turned to the door as it clicked open. Mom and dad came in with proud expressions on their faces. Wait, don't tell me-
"My sons are growing up so fast." Dad put a hand on both of our shoulders while smiling. Mom stayed silently in the back, giving us smiles. "Thanks, Alex. I didn't know when he was ever going to get over it." Dad gave me a wink. I groaned at sight. Of course, they were going to eavesdrop. They are my parents.
Mom went over to Arthur and started to heal his left cheek. It was beginning to turn black. Damn, how hard did I hit?
"Alex, you could have held back?"
"Sorry, mom." I was already feeling guilty. She didn't have to say it out loud. I watched as mom healed Arthur. It's still fascinating as I watched her heal him.
"Mom, what type of magic do you do? What element is healing?" Mom's smile dropped as I asked those questions.
"Light." Wait, what? I thought humans didn't have the light element. Mom probably could feel me staring at her since she continued. "Humans can't have the light element, but for some reason I do. I don't know why, though." Her voice was slowly dying as she spoke.
I didn't press on the matter. I decided to change the subject.
"Where is Ari?"
"She is playing with Ami." I was starting to head off, but I stopped by dad.
"Where are you going?"
"To find Ari?" I needed to find out that blue light that came inside her mouth. I also need to talk to that captain. I need to ask him who he was. I didn't want to endanger the family.
"Oh no, you don't. You are supposed to rest for two weeks."
"Two weeks!" I turned to mom.
"Mom, how long does it take if you heal me?"
"You want me to heal you?"
"Yes, I don't want to be stuck in my room." Mom sighed and turned to me.
"The fastest I can do is a day." I brightened up and hugged her. I stayed for a day, but it eventually turned into two days of healing and resting. Mom would come every hour to come in and heal me, then bandage me up when she was running low of mana. The wound healed faster after she had a full night rest. It must have been tiring for her to keep on healing my wound by almost every hour. I was grateful.
It was the end of the second day, and finally fully healed. I stood up from the bed after mom left me after finally leaving me. I looked back to see Ari sleeping soundly on my bed. After she came back after playing with Ami, she didn't leave my side even for a second. She was really loyal to me. I felt terrible, but I woke up Ari, making her jolt up. She gave out a small yawn and rubbed her eyes.
'Baba?'
'We are going to check out that captain in the dungeon, and I need your help." Ari jumped up and landed on my head when I said 'help.' I chuckled at seeing her excitement.
I roamed around to find the dungeon. I'm glad I had a tour of the house when I came into the house, so it was easy for me to locate the underground dungeon. The problem was the guards that were standing there. This was where Ari came in.
'Ari, can you disguise me as dad?'
'Okay, baba!' I didn't really know she could do it, but now I could confirm it. This would be handy in the future.
'Ready?'
'Yes.' As soon as I recieved her reply, I walked forwards to the soldiers, hoping this would work. I stood up straighter, so I could feel taller. I almost jumped as the soldiers clang their armor loudly as they brought their hand to their chest.
"General!"
I nodded and walked in as they gave me passage to the dungeon. Oddly, there weren't any soldiers inside. I saw many cellars that were empty, except for that one cell that I was expecting to meet. He was sitting in a chair. His legs and arms were chained to the wall. His limbs were bruised from being shackled.
'Ari, drop the illusion.'
I made eye contact with the fake captain. I gave him a smile, which was returned with wide-eyes. I guess he was suprised to see a child in the dungeon, but I wasn't an ordinary child.
"Hello, captain."