In the midst of glowing and glittering chandeliers illuminating the grand hall of the manor stood a young boy with straight light brown hair and dark eyes to compliment his fair skin.
His tailored suit made the 12 year old look more mature than he was as he stood beside his older sister and parents, each in their own exquisite clothing. Everyone was. The room was filled with adults and teenagers in expensive clothes and shoes, and it made Thomas miserable.
No dress, nor amount of makeup could cover up the fact that his obnoxious older sister was practically half demon with the way she kept bossing him around.
"Don't slouch!" "No hands in pockets!" "Smile!" "Be humble!"
How about she just shut up already? Is what Thomas wished he could say aloud as the demon and Mother went to greet Lady Johanssenn while Father pulled him along to greet the chancellor.
"How long has it been?" Father asked jovially to the chancellor, and he replied, "Far too long, my friend." as he and Father shared a strange greeting.
It was halfway between a hug and a fist bump, and they just grabbed each others' forearms. Adults are weird.
"Surely this isn't little Tommy?" the chancellor said, but it surely was. "My, have you grown! How old are you now? Fourteen? Fifteen?"
He was only 12.
"Twelve? You could've fooled me with 15!" the chancellor laughed as Father added, "He has my physique, you see. Big and strong just like his father!"
Thomas didn't know about that, but he just pretended to laugh as the chancellor continued the conversation.
"I can't say the same about my son! He has my brain, but he drew his mother's body from the genetic lot."
"And what's wrong with that?" Lady Johanssenn said, startling her husband.
"Nothing at all, dear." the chancellor said as he kissed the top of his wife's hand.
She smugly stared him down for a bit before replying, "That's what I thought," and turning to her son.
'Introduce yourself.' she signalled to him with a head gesture as she made way for him to be introduced.
"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm Gilbert Johanssenn, and I must thank you for coming to the party." he said with a smile as fake as his Father's.
What? Did he want a medal or something for that mediocre introduction? Perhaps a standing ovation. No, fireworks would've been way more appropriate, Thomas thought as he smiled and shook Gilbert's hand.
A weak grip. Well, Thomas wasn't expecting much from someone of Gilbert's size anyway.
"You're pretty tall for a 15 year old." the stupid, smelly sister commented, making Mrs. Chancellor's wife chuckle beside her husband.
"I'm 17, actually." Gilbert replied sheepishly, and clearly embarrassed as the stupid, insensitive sister tried to cover her slip up with, "Oh my! With a baby face like that, I thought you were still a young lad." except that wasn't funny.
Thomas, dying from second-hand embarrassment, jumped in to save Gilbert by telling the group how not all teens can be as athletic and perfect as he. He wasn't that arrogant, but playing himself off to be got the topic change Gilbert desperately needed.
"Indeed, young man," Mr. Chancellor said, "I could've sworn your old man here told me you're on the varsity team in your academy."
That was right! Now if there was anything that didn't bore Thomas to death, it was scuffball. Thomas was the best player his academy had ever seen in decades, helping them win the last championship. But of course, Thomas didn't say any of this out loud, because of his father's glare burning a whole in his head.
'Be humble!' He could almost hear his old man's thoughts as he remained modest and humble as the adults decided, "Let's let these two boys get to know each other while we go talk about the upcoming election."
"Brilliant idea!" Thomas agreed as he took the opportunity to slip away to a secluded balcony free of the stuffy environment.
One gigantic deep breath in, and one massive sigh filled the cold air outside as Thomas loosened his tie and took a break from the world his parents and older sister lived in.
He was going to go pro. He knew he was, but even if he didn't, by pure chance and bad luck, he wasn't going to join the family business. He didn't want any part of the hypocritical democracy all those stuffy adults controlled.
He was not going to join them!
"Join who?" Gilbert asked, scaring everything out of Thomas as he tried to figure out where he even came from and how much he had heard.
He rushed to fix his tie as Gilbert insisted that it was fine, but he knew if Father caught him, Gilbert would be anything but fine.
"It's really fine!"
Easy for him to say! It wasn't his life on the line! It was Thomas!
"I-I mean I don't really want to know if it's private. I really am sorry for startling you."
What was wrong with this guy? He was the exact opposite of the Chancellor in every way. He wasn't even like his confident, borderline-insensitive mother, but you didn't hear that from me. For a noble, no, for a normal person, he didn't have any confidence at all. Was this really the Chancellor's son?
"U-Um are you alright? You've been quiet for a while now."
Thomas was thinking.
"About what? I-If I may ask."
There were tons of nobles his age at that party, so why was he wasting his time hanging around Thomas?
Thomas immediately heard the sarcasm and rude tone accompanying the question, and apologized, but Gilbert replied, "Well, my father told me to get to know you better."
Really? Of course, Thomas didn't question him aloud.
"A-And I get nervous around people older than me or my age."
Why?
This time, Thomas actually asked him.
"U-Um you see, I have this ... ability! Yes! I have this ability to tell when someone will or will not make a very good friend. A-And because of this ability, I don't really have many friends."
First of all, everyone has that ability. It's called instinct, intuition, common sense! And Thomas swore on his life that half the people in the hall behind them wanted to kiss Gilbert's foot if they had half the chance.
"Really?"
Yes! Gilbert just needed to be more confident about himself. He was so much better than almost everyone in the entire mansion!
"Really?"
Really! All he had to do was hold his head up high and talk clearly with a smile. It really wasn't hard.
Thomas acknowledged the way he talked to the son of the Chancellor was rude, but he didn't care. It was obvious no one had ever told Gilbert to be confident, so he chose to be the first and proudly walked into the ballroom after patting Gilbert's back. Just like Couch did for him as well.
Thomas felt like a new man as he walked through the ballroom with his political smile on his face as he headed for the bathroom. He was a tad bit content with how the party turned out for him. He thought it would be another boring fest of fake smiles and smelly perfume, but he was proud to have changed at least one person for the better. At least, he thought it was for the better for those 2 minutes.
As fate would have it, however, Thomas felt someone grab his arm as he was walking through the middle of the room, and turned to see Gilbert, huffing and puffing. Before Thomas could ask him what the matter was, Gilbert loudly declared, "Your words changed me! There is absolutely nothing I can give you in exchange for your wisdom but myself."
Huh?
"From this day forward, I will be your loyal dog!"
*****
It really wasn't funny, Thomas told his friends as the two of them cackled over the most embarrassing moment in his life.
He never wanted to see a suit again. He never wanted to smell smelly perfume ever again. He never wanted to see Gilbert ever again. Abyssus! He never wanted to hear his name mentioned anywhere around him ever again!
"Guys! Did you hear that Gilbert Johanssenn is coming to our school?"
At that point, Thomas was convinced all his friends were either deaf in both ears or brain dead as he zoned out with his head on his desk.
He didn't have to worry about Gilbert anyway. The High School grades were in a completely different building from the Junior High grades, which meant Thomas would never have to see him ever again. Plus, he didn't even know Thomas' homeroom, so he couldn't have come to visit either-
"Master!"
Thomas thought he was going insane when he heard Gilbert's voice, but as easy it is to ignore a person's voice, ignoring someone double your height tackling you is a whole new level of density. A level Thomas was yet to reach.
"I came to your school, master! Did I do a good job?"
Did he have some sort of personality disorder? Thomas wondered, until his spidey senses started to tingle.
Without thinking twice, he grabbed Gilbert and dashed down the hallway, then down the stairs, and they made one final turn before Thomas closed the closet door behind him.
"What are we-"
Shh!
They stood in silence for a bit waiting for who knows what, until they appeared. Thomas placed his arm in front of Gilbert and moved him back as the stampede of his fangirls ran past the door at a terrifying speed.
"He went this way!" one yelled!
"No, he went this way!" the other yelled.
Thomas could only hope for the perfect timing to slip away, and he got the perfect signal as the bell for first period filled the hallways. Once clear, Thomas instructed Gilbert to lay low and go to class, and he responded, "Yes, Master," irking Thomas.
He could just call him Thomas.
"Alright, Master Thomas."
No! Just call him Thomas! No Master!
"As you wish, Thomas!" he said excitedly as he skipped down the hall, attracting as much attention to himself as possible.
Maybe it was just a weird phase of puberty, Thomas thought as he hoped Gilbert would stop following him around like a ... well ... dog.
*****
Thomas was wrong.
"Maybe you accidentally imprinted on him." his friend giggled as they walked down the hall.
That was the funniest joke ever. It was so funny that Thomas forgot to laugh.
"C'mon, it's not that bad."
But it was. Gilbert wouldn't leave Thomas alone. He was always right outside his classroom when the lunch bell rang, even though his classroom is a whole 10 minute walk away. Not to mention the way he brings Thomas random snacks to eat. When he told him how he can't eat sugary things, he started bringing him energy bars and drinks and such.
"That doesn't sound too bad."
He'd bring Thomas several cases of them a day. What kind of cow did he think he was?
"It could be worse. He could be bringing you poison."
At that point, poison would've been an upgrade, Thomas thought as he waved his friend goodbye and headed towards the locker room.
His mind began to wonder how Gilbert would keep cool in the blistering heat as the upperclassmen walked into the locker room as well. Thomas tried not to make eye contact with any of them, knowing how annoyed they all were considering he got more play time than him. It really wasn't anyone's fault, so Thomas chased those thoughts of being hated away as he thought of the ridiculous sign Gilbert had made.
The image of the Chancellor's son holding a banner above his head and cheering a middle schooler on from behind a fence made Thomas giggle to himself a bit, a monumental mistake.
Remember those butt-hurt upperclassmen who walked in earlier? Well one of them thought Thomas was laughing at them for not making the starting eleven. Though Thomas wasn't quite sure how they got to that conclusion, one thing was certain: Thomas was going to miss practice.
*****
"You be careful, dear." the nurse said to Thomas as he left her office and went to go home. He was tired, anyway.
"Thomas!"
Too tired for Gilbert's annoying voice as well.
"What happened? I didn't see you in practice, so I asked one of the other guys on the field, and they said you had gone to the nurse's office, so I came back inside the building to find you, so are you okay? That looks like it hurts."
He was fine.
"Are you sure? Because if you aren't I can call my general physician, or would a hospital be better? How did this happen anyway?"
He fell.
"You can't get those kinds of injuries from falling. I would know."
He fell!
Thomas went silent immediately after raising his voice while talking to the Chancellor's son.
Distance.
That's what they needed, so Thomas continued walking as a shocked Gilbert stood in the middle of the hallway.
"Why didn't you fight back?"
Huh?
"You're strong. I know you're strong. You know you're strong, so why didn't you fight back?"
He would get kicked off the team, blacklisted by the school, alienated by friends, and lose his family's trust too-
"Why?"
Why? Who would everyone believe? The young, 'unstable' magician who beat up 4 kids double his size, or the four poor dormants who got beat near death for no valid reason?
Thomas knew he had to stop talking, but he couldn't help it.
He needed to tell Gilbert to stop following him around all the damn time. He needed to make friends his age, so he can be considered normal by everyone else. He needed to grow up and stop living in some fantasy world where Thomas was the hero of the story who could do no wrong. He was just getting annoying, and he just needed to stop.
He didn't care as Gilbert stared at the ground in silence, knowing he was trying not to cry.
He didn't care about anything at all as he walked away, leaving Gilbert in the middle of the hallway.
*****
"You okay?"
Thomas's leg was supposed to be healed in a week.
"Not that~ Are you okay okay?"
With grammar like that, he could ask her the same question.
"Thomas!"
What?
"You haven't smiled in a week. "
And she hadn't shut up since the day they met.
"I get it! You miss Gilbert."
Why would he miss that annoying bozo?
"Admit it. It was fun to have him around, and as much as you want to admit it, he made you happy."
No he didn't-
"Thomas!"
What now?
"There's a fight!"
And what did that have to do with Thomas exactly?
"It's Gilbert! He picked a fight with the upperclassmen from the team."
He what? How could he be so stupid? Thomas thought as he did his best to run while adrenaline made the pain of moving so quickly virtually disappear. All he could think about was how he was going to tear those upperclassmen to shreds if they laid a hand on Gilbert-
He suddenly stopped as he wondered why he was in a hurry to save someone so stupid, but by that time, he was in the courtyard, watching all four of the upperclassmen surround Gilbert.
All sound cut out as Thomas blacked out and found himself getting yelled at by Gilbert. He looked down and saw the blood on his knuckles and immediately related it to the blood on the students' faces, but he didn't care.
He hoped the display would've scared Gilbert in the same way it scared everyone else away, but the Chancellor's son looked mesmerised as he held out his hand.
Awed and defeated, Thomas grabbed his hand, and the broken-faced upperclassmen ran off as Gilbert asked, "Can I take this as your way of saying you're fine with me being your dog?"
Thomas found himself laughing out loud, and Gilbert, obviously confused as to what was so funny, laughed along.
They laughed and laughed until a teacher walked up to them.
Let's just say they didn't look too happy about the situation.
*****
Ugh! What a pain, Thomas thought as he exited the headmaster's office with his annoying older sister.
"You better be glad that the other kids in that locker room vouched for you. Do you know how serious it would've been if-"
He got it, so could she stop talking. Her voice is so screechy and painful to hear.
She ended up landing a hit on the back of his head before she noticed Gilbert sitting next to the door.
Trying to cover up what she had just done, she began ruffling Thomas' hair as she said, "And remember we'll always love you." except it sounded like she was being held at gunpoint.
"Ms. Brighnerr, I'm sorry to meet under such circumstances."
Wow, Thomas thought, he'd be pretty good at politics if he talked like that more often.
He walked away from the two of them, thinking they wouldn't notice, but the second he stepped away, Gilbert's attention flipped to him.
"We must return to class, but I'd love to hear more about your projects." he said to the annoying feign of a sibling as she replied, "But of course!" before finally leaving.
Thomas turned to continue walking down the hallway before Gilbert asked, "Aren't we supposed to go the other way?"
They were skipping school.
"Oh!" Gilbert whispered loudly.
Geez, he was an idiot.
Back then he couldn't take a joke, and now Thomas couldn't believe what Emilia had gotten herself into.
Assault? Lord Mansa? Princess Kiara? What was going on? Why had she sent him this letter? What did she want Thomas to do? To expose the royal family? To keep it a secret? What did she want from him?
"What does who want from you?"
Like father, like son. Louis was a pro at scaring the living daylights out of Thomas as well.
"Daddy scared you?"
Yup, he replied as he picked up the little, sneaky child. Did anything scare him?
"No! I'm a hunter! Hunters don't get scared!"
No, they didn't, but they did go to bed on time.
"Awww, man!"
Thomas couldn't help but smile at how cute the little child looked as he sulked. Simply adorable, to put it in simpler terms.
He promised Emilia he would keep Louis safe if it was the last thing he did, and he wondered whether or not he should've told Gilbert about the letter and its contents.
Would it have changed things? Perhaps they should've just told Louis the truth from the very beginning. Maybe then, he'd be able to see Louis' innocent smile rather than his piercing glare as Felix poured a bucket of water onto him to wake him up.
He was doing the right thing! Thomas thought to himself over and over again as Jason said to the child Thomas raised, "You have been summoned. Get up or we'll make you get up."
Louis was unrecognizable with his scraps of clothing, and messy, dirty, overgrown hair, but an intimidating yet hopeful gaze filled his eyes.
"Well then," he declared in sarcasm, "I suggest you grab me by my legs first, so I can't kick any of you. You don't have to worry about my arm."
Thomas hated seeing Louis' only arm chained to a wall, but what else could they do when he wouldn't listen?
If it wasn't for Thomas, he would've been killed the moment William exposed him.
"That would've been better than 6 months of torture, to be honest."
"Well," Harrison added, "Spunk is a sign of good health."
"Then we have very different definitions of good health. Don't we, doctor?"
Harrison smiled as he injected the suppressor into Louis' arm before Felix commented, "If you never lied to us, this wouldn't have happened, you know."
"Well, I didn't want to be on the wrong side of history. "
"If that's your reason, you made the wrong decision."
Louis sat in silence as Thomas went over to pick him up as Harrison removed the shackle from his wrist, but Louis suddenly glared at him again, making Thomas ask him what was wrong.
He turned to Jason before saying, "Could you pick me up? From a former student to his former teacher?"
Thomas felt his heart shatter as Louis refused him, and Harrison patted him on the back as Jason picked up the sedated magician.
"It's not your fault." Harrison assured him, but was that really true?
Would things have changed if he just gave Louis the letter and explained what happened?
Yeah! Maybe he could've seen that Thomas was only trying to keep him safe. He would've rather died than make him cry after all.
*****
The Palace Rus. Home of the forgotten royal family as the other kingdoms' affairs tended to overshadow those of the Meelia Royal Family.
It was no wonder to Thomas as to why King Ackley joined forces with King Richard to bring down the other feigns. He truly was a just man who threw away the millennium old bond the four kingdoms shared to put those tyrants in their places.
Thomas' mind was all over the place as they entered that historic throne room. However, he was soon thinking of different ways to beat Felix to near death as he watched him throw Louis into the center of the room, before the kings, emperor, and queen. Thomas even warned him not to be too rough with him since Louis was injured, but apparently all of Thomas' words went in one ear and out the other. The annoying bastard.
"All rise for the Master of Wisteria!"
Everyone in the room rose to their feet at the announcement as Master Julian of Wisteria walked in through those humongous golden doors and through the throne room before finally taking a seat behind all the other monarchs. All in the room paid their respect. All except Louis, who was called out by Felix.
"Were you not raised with the decency to bow to your monarchs?"
Thomas noticed a smirk on King Ackley's face as Louis sat himself on the floor and crossed his legs.
"I was, which is why I deliberately haven't shown even the slightest ounce of respect to a bunch of cowards like you lot."
"Say that again." Emperor Chung-Ae said to Louis, who now had a smile on his face.
"Why? Are you deaf, old man?"
"Spunk like that," King Ackley took over, "Can only mean he's in good health. No?"
"Good health or not," the aggravated emperor replied, "I will rip his tongue out as he watches the execution of the dirty spy who was caught with him."
"If you lay a finger on Mrs. Park, I will burn this world to the ground after painting it in your blood."
He had gone too far, Thomas thought as Prince William and Sir Kylian walked up to the arrogant boy.
"Pay your respects." Sir Kylian demanded, but Louis refused.
Seven total blows. Four kicks to the gut from Sir Kylian, and 3 punches to the face from Prince William.
There was blood running down Louis' head in two places: near his ear from the punches, and by his mouth from the blood he coughed up. Thomas felt Jason grab his arm as his body unconsciously began to move towards the child. He hadn't even realised his hand was clenched in a fist until Jason whispered for him to, "Relax."
He knew Louis was in the wrong, but he couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to kill anyone and everyone who dared to lay a finger on him. Including Sir Kylian and the second prince as well, but he couldn't. He was simply not allowed to no matter how badly they hurt him. No matter how much they hurt the child of the man he trusted with his life-
"Now that's done," King Richard announced, snapping Thomas back to reality, "Shall we carry on with our agenda, Your Excellency?"
All eyes turned to Master Julian as he watched Louis, lying on the floor, struggling to breath. Thomas couldn't tell if it was because of the kick he took to the gut or if the overwhelming presence of magic power Master Julian brought to the room was just too difficult for anyone to withstand.
"If the boy is well enough to hear and understand my words," the Master said, "Then I shall announce the executions of Kim Si-eun, Kim Hyunjin, Letitia Myra, Spencer Myra and Kingus Myra tomorrow at noon."
What? Thomas simply couldn't believe his ears as Louis screamed, "You cowards would execute a child? What sick pleasure does seeing the corpse of a child bring you monsters? Do you know what Kiara would do to you if she finds out about this?"
"Kiara is not of our concern." Queen Mahogani of the South declared, "After all, in the fight of good versus evil, the light always prevails."
"So you also believe Kiara will slay that monster and restore peace to the world?" Louis asked, trying to get a rise out of everyone in the room, but no one said anything as Master Julian replied, "Perhaps. Only time will tell."
He exited through those huge golden doors, and he looked unphased by all going on around him. He looked as if he didn't care.
He looked ... bored.
*****
Why would the man who orchestrated this entire revolution seem so uninterested in everything around him? Did he not care?
Thomas felt there was something wrong with the entire situation, but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it. The memories of Louis screaming that Master Julian had instructed him to be a spy himself and that Prince Baptiste was still alive seemed ludacris to everyone, but Louis was never much of a liar.
It wasn't that he chose not to lie, but he physically could not lie to save his own life. That's what bugged Thomas the most. That and the way Soo-young also said the exact same things in a completely separate interrogation. There was always the possibility of her telling Louis what to say, but Thomas really didn't think Louis had the acting ability to pull such a thing off.
Aside from the monarchs, no one knew Master Julian was in on the revolution until they had already taken the East. He just popped out of nowhere, and they didn't know his plans, his motives, abyssus, no one could even tell what he was thinking. With a vague expression of boredom, and even vaguer words, Thomas was at a loss on whether or not to trust the man with all light magic in the palm of his hands.
"Knock, knock." Harrison said as Thomas was changing his clothes in his room. "We're coming in~"
Why knock if he was just going to walk in before he said anything?
"To be polite, of course."
Be polite? Maybe they should've told that to their boys considering the way they beat up their disabled friend.
"Sorry about that. William has just been so strange lately. I'm afraid he's getting worse."
Harrison? Afraid? The world must've been coming to an end.
"Why are you so obsessed with Louis, anyway?" Jason suddenly asked, leading to Harrison sarcastically commenting, "Way to ease into the conversation~"
Thomas wasn't obsessed with Louis-
"Yes, you are." they replied in unison, but Thomas really couldn't see what they were talking about. Harrison and Jason glanced at each other before staring at Thomas.
What?
"I know you've been sneaking extra food to him when no one's looking." Jason started.
"Not to mention, how you purposely volunteer to go on routine inspections just to check on him." Harrison continued.
"When you can't go on inspection, you ask me to go in your place and report back how Louis' doing."
"And you do favours for me in exchange for me to make sure he isn't sick either."
Okay, okay, okay. Maybe Thomas was a little worried about Louis, but he couldn't help it. After he-
"Raised him~" Harrison mocked as he wiped his glasses, "Word of advice, keep your mommy worries to a minimum or else you'll be joining him in those dungeons. Got it?"
But what if Louis was telling the truth.
"Thomas!"
Hear him out, Jason. Louis claimed Prince Baptiste wasn't dead.
"Listen to yourself, Thomas!" Jason yelled, "If anyone else heard this, you'd be arrested for treason!"
"He's right, Thomas." Harrison scolded, "Kill all those thoughts of yours before they get you killed."
He wanted to! He really did, but he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that Master Julian wasn't on their side.
"They promised us a new world order. How can you doubt them when they've helped us this much?"
He didn't doubt them! He was just ... confused! All he needed to do was find out whether or not Louis was lying to him. That's all, and he needed their help.
Both magicians sighed before eventually asking Thomas what it was he wanted them to do. He smiled, but Jason immediately added, "You owe me big time."
"And my lab needs cleaning ... for the next month and a half." the pervert of a doctor included.
"I am not a pervert," the pervert argued, "I am simply a man with many fetishes."
And harassment charges too.
*****
Louis looked his worst in months as Thomas and Felix walked him to his seat for the execution. He had refused to eat the night before, and thus looked weaker and lethargic, but he still looked better than Felix. His banged up face, covered in fresh bandages was a satisfying sight for Thomas, and hopefully an everlasting lesson to the young nimrod.
Even though he refused to look at him, Thomas found the simple feeling of being in the same box seat as Louis to be a warming feeling, but that soon changed as he saw the 12 year old former prince of the South in shackles.
The tear stains on his face were obvious on both his and his mother's face, and Thomas didn't blame them at all. The former queen was guilty by association, but the young former prince was, in Thomas' mind, innocent.
It wasn't really like King Richard to execute children either, well, at least the Richard Thomas thought he knew.
A lot changes in six months, Thomas guessed as an announcer emerged with an umbrella on the rainy day.
"Former Third Prince of the South, Kingus Asparatus Myra is hereby to be executed for the crimes of abetting in tyranny and turning a blind eye to his people in a time of need-"
Vmmm.
Thomas' attention went from the uncomfortable ceremony to his phone as he stepped out of the booth to answer it in the hallway.
It was Jason.
And?
What? How was that possible?
Did that mean Julian really was the one who sent him and Soo-young to Palace Rus as spies?
The sound of fireworks was heard through the phone as Jason asked
Thomas didn't know what the sound was, but no one had mentioned a sound like it going off during the execution. He burst through the door and saw colourful powder filling the air and turning the rain all different hues of colours, and it was beautiful. It was simply breathtaking until Thomas noticed the executioner pass out.
It was fireflower powder! He yelled for everyone to not touch the rain nor inhale the powder, but he was too late. As he watched spectator after spectator pass out in their seats, he caught a glimpse of a mask taking Louis from him.
He reached out to stop the mask, but he couldn't. He was too sleepy to save Louis. Too weak to keep him safe. And too ignorant to see the truth from the very beginning.
That was how Thomas lost his son.