In the slums as night had descended, while Marcie and Lucas were asleep Elle walked toward the bathroom. She drew for herself a small simple warm bath and slowly dipped her body inside the warm water. The transparent liquid remained calm and collected until her black hair entered and turned the once pure water into murky black. Gently, Elle squeezed her hair and brushed them with her fingers, letting the salt bath and her creamy soap to cleanse the black dye on her hair and return it to its original pink color.
She turned her face around, finding her own hazy reflection on the shattered mirror and stared at her rose colored hair with a blank look on her face. No one in the slums bore the same color of her hair. She had seen many redheads but she had never seen one with the similar pale pink hair as she does. Due to that, she became an easy target for some children in the slums who would tease and exclude her for her odd appearance. She recalled that there was only Timothy who would be there for her and grandpa John who would stick up and scold the children for bullying her or trying to throw mud to her hair. Recalling the past made her slightly chuckle.
Even though the children of slums aren't accepted outside the slum, she wasn't quite accepted in the slums either. She was the odd one out, a girl with the only rose hair and bright golden eyes. But despite that, she had never hated the people who thought of her as strange. She grew up into the figure who took care of all the slums people regardless of their gender, appearance, or age.
One might call her stupid for sacrificing her own life by becoming the phantom thief but she never felt more happier than to see there is at least one life that wouldn't disappear from hunger in the slum.
Although there were times where she disliked the color of her hair, in fact she now quite love the pinkish color, finding it lovely and soft. However she would dye them whenever she attempts to steal around as her rose colored hair could be too striking and easy to pinpoint.
Just as she was about to lean her head back to the wooden bathtub, she heard the small voice that had called her out from the door, "Sister Elle?"
The small voice turned out to be Lucas's, making her smile as he wouldn't call her "sister" unless they were alone, perhaps feeling shy as they weren't exactly blood related. She took care of Lucas when his mother died and held a stronger bond compared to the others.
"Yes, Lucas?" Elle inquired with a gentle smile. "How is the pendant?"
"They are beautiful, I promise to cherish it to the end of my life," whispered Lucas with sincerity that made her chuckle.
"Your mother had always cherished it too, make sure that no bad guy would steal it again," she whispered but then paused and added, "But if it is life threatening, you can forgo the pendant and save your life. Remember, objects are not as important as your life."
"Mhm, I know," Lucas murmured. "About this afternoon. I wanted to say I'm sorry. You worked hard to ensure that you can retrieve the pendant but I... I instead scolded you for it. Especially when your entire body is.. covered in wounds."
So that was what had bothered the small child, thought Elle to herself. He had been oddly silent today even for someone who speak less.
Lucas had always been a sensitive child but Elle didn't know that what had happened had plagued his mind so much. She didn't blame him as everyone in the slum fear losing one another. To the children, she is akin to their mother and the sights of her covered in bloods and wounds must have put the fright to the small boy who had to watch his mother die from illness.
Feeling regretful for bringing up the trauma, Elle spoke gently, "You didn't scold me at all, Lucas. You were only worried about me, I understand and I promise that next time it won't happen again."
Lucas twiddled with his fingers and finally pulled out all his courage to speak, "Sister Elle can you not steal again? I agree with grandpa John, you have a lot of skill sister and I'm sure you can use them to find a proper work not by stealing that will only hurt you. If I see you again in wounds I think I will..." Lucas' voice grew weak and Elle was alerted the moment she heard the faint sobs from the boy.
Quickly she rose from the bathtub, drying her body as quick as possible and wore her tattered dress. Opening the door to the bathtub, she bent down and gently patted his shoulders. The small boy jumped to circle his hands around her shoulders for a hug and at the soft touch, she felt herself heartbroken.
All this time, Lucas had never told her how he was against her stealing but seeing his strong reaction today, perhaps the boy had never agreed to the idea. Even though she was the one who steal around, Lucas was always worried of her situation and would wait for her anxiously.
Elle closed her eyes, whispering, "I'm sorry Lucas, I didn't know what you feel." She had always cared about helping others but she forgot to take care of herself, resulting in hurting the people closest to her. If Lucas was this worried, what about Marcie? Were the two children always in constant worries when she left her house in fear that she would never come back?
"Don't leave us," sobbed Lucas while taking a tight hold on Elle's dress. "Please don't leave us sister. I know we're weak but I promise I wont ever be a burden to you."
"Don't say that," cooed Elle and her eyebrows sloped down in sorrow.
"I'm small and I'm stupid. I'm too young to understand there is any other way to help you other than learning those books but if one day you die for us, I can never forgive myself," Lucas' eyes turned red from the tears that continued to stream down from his eyes. "Please, please sister. Don't steal again. The churchmen are dangerous and there are too many nobles who hold grudge against you."
"Lucas calm down," Elle panicked upon seeing how Lucas fell forward on his knees. He clutched his small hands to his chest and began to have a trouble to breathe. "Lucas," she called but the child seemed to have fallen into a daze of sorrow, only crying out for her name and begging her to stop.
No matter how strong Estellle was, she couldn't bear hearing or seeing such a small boy breaking down in tears— especially her little brother. She squeezed her eyes, trying to think on what she could do and finally whispered, "I'm sorry Lucas, I will make sure what happened today will never occur again. I won't steal again," she said with her eyes shut. "I won't steal again," she whispered the second time as an oath.
No matter how much Elle acted as an adult in the end she was still a nineteen year old girl who love her family deeply.
When she had first met Lucas with his mother, she found that the boy was quite a stern and cold one. Even though his sister was the type to show her emotions openly, Lucas was more closed. He never cried and apparently from his mother, the only time he cried was when he was born. The first time Elle had seen him cried was the night after his mother was buried and now was the second time.
The young boy who had never cried finally shed tears in fear of losing her. No matter how cold hearted a person is, Elle couldn't bring herself to reject his small request for her to stop stealing.
What was she doing? Elle blamed herself. She had neglected Lucas and Marcie, playing heroes all around the slum even though she had only hurt the two children. She was also a child in the past, a child with no parents. Imagining the fear they held for being left alone again made her heart wrenched. She squeezed her eyes tighter.
"I won't do it ever again, Lucas. I promise." Her tears that had slid from eyes then fell on the ground, turning itself to a transparent white crystal that roll around the corner of the door and disappeared from sight... "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."