[Trigger Warning (TW): There are moments where I describe the aftermath of the abuse last chapter so just a warning! It will die down though.]
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Tonight, was the night Lucas's mind had broken apart. All of his expectations, all of his hopes, and all that he knew, became shattered just as he had revealed his secondary magical attribute. He did not understand the reasoning behind him getting beaten up, he also didn't understand what was so bad about having another type of power. However, there was one thing for certain...
"I... h-hate my Time M-Magic...". Lucas sobbed as he buried his heavy face, full of bruises and cuts into the depths of his pillow. He lay in his bed, thinking about what went wrong with him.
"W-why was I born like this...?"
"Am I the only one with two a-attributes...?"
"When will B-Big Sis come home...?"
These questions plagued Lucas's head as he slowly drifted to sleep in his dark, unlit room. "Now that I think about it... there were moments where I felt Mother and Father didn't like me... they would squeeze my hand as hard as they could as I'm a bit weak... they would refuse to give me food some days when I forgot about my chores... and now, I think I understand why they did that". He thought to himself, lips quivering and body shaking.
The morning had arrived as the sun rose up from the east. It's gleaming rays phased through the glass windows of the Church that Lucas lived in. Sunshine touched the ginger child's fair skin and the warmth woke him up. It was the first bit of warmth that he had felt since he repaired the Blue Irises the day before.
"I... I don't want to get up. I just want to s-see Big Sis". Lucas hiccupped as he started to cry again, remembering the events of the past night. He had barred his door to prevent any further attacks on him after both the Mother and the Father had abused him for many hours. This was the first time he felt he even had to shut his door, let alone have it barred since he learnt how to walk. He fell asleep again just after shutting the curtains at his window.
Downstairs, in the entrance of the Church, the door opened and there she was. The light of Lucas's life. It was Big Sis Iris. She had returned from her sleepover at her friend's house and she greeted both Mother and Father that were stood there, waiting for her to return home.
"Good Morning, Mother, Father! I have missed you so much, even if it's only been three days". She kissed the cheeks of both adults. Iris then walked in with a satchel over her back, that was presumably filled with goods.
"Oh, so what is that heavy sack that you're holding?" The Mother asked, wondering about its contents.
"I went with my friend Melanie and we made some gifts for you all! There's some for you two... but most of the gifts are for my little goofy brother! Hey... where is he?" Iris asked as she scanned the room for any sight of him.
The Mother and the Father exchanged worried and surprised looks with each other and had to think of something really quickly to avoid the situation. He's just a bit ill. Yes, he's had a fever for a few days now, so I wouldn't bother him right now". The Father stated as he looked nervous, with his eyes darting all over.
The Sister paused for a second as if she knew something was up. "Hm, really? I saw him out of Melanie's window yesterday playing around the lake... we were only a few minutes away. Gosh, he's a bit foolish for going outside even when he's ill. No matter, I shall give these gifts to him some other time". She walked away into the living space to set down her belongings.
Both adults wiped some nervous sweat off their brow. Their fists were clenched, however, as they were immensely worried about what problems could arise if Iris saw Lucas in the state that he was in. Their knuckles were stained with bruises of their own. The hits they landed on the poor boy also left an imprint on their skin with how badly they hurt him.
Mother and Father thought they were safe, but Iris on the other hand had started to notice some odd things.
"As soon as I opened the door, I saw some flowers on the floor and they were broken... Blue Irises I think they were? I know Lucas would've got them for me... so that's why he was out by the Lake yesterday. I find it weird how when I opened the door, the Mother quickly scurried over and picked them up to throw them in the bin". Iris thought long and hard about what could've transpired but ended up assuming it was a simple mistake from Lucas and that he had dropped them.
As Lucas's sister walked on, both of the adults sighed a breath of relief. They then dispersed elsewhere in the Church to continue with their jobs.
Iris walked upstairs and was about to enter her room when she looked towards Lucas's room. "Hm, that's odd. He never shuts his door; he must have had a really bad fever then". She entered her room and set down the sack she had that were filled with gifts.
The Sister walked towards her small mirror and examined all the gifts she had in front of her. She looked through them all and found a dress that was for Mother. Quickly, she tried it on herself in the mirror. As Iris started to wear it, she held her vibrant red hair close together so she could fit it through the dress's opening at the top. As she fit her head through, she let go of her long hair as it divided itself into two ponytails. She looked at herself and admired how nicely the dress fit her.
"Oh wait, this dress doesn't exactly go with my skin tone. Father says my fair skin is beautiful, but I really don't think so... Oh well!" Iris said to herself as she examined herself with her sparkling yellow eyes. She unbuttoned the dress and folded it neatly onto her bed. She then re-dressed herself in her normal attire which consisted of a blue dress that extended just below her knees, as well as a white blouse the went above it. She also put on her light brown boots.
The next item she brought out was a gift for the Father. It was a grimoire satchel that was neatly woven and had a nice grey tint, as a colour, covering it. "I guess I'll try this myself too before handing it over... Oh! It fits perfectly with my grimoire... Ah, my grimoire doesn't have the nicest colour though. Earth Magic is cool, and I love it, but a brown cover on my grimoire isn't the best... Oh well!" she quickly unfastened the satchel and set it down neatly next to the dress on the bed.
"Next up is... Oh! Here we go, the gift I bought for my little cute brother. I hope he loves this painting of a sunflower that I got for him from a travelling merchant!" She looked at it and was quite amazed herself. Iris had gone to the neighbouring town with Melanie and found a merchant that was selling paintings and other sorts of stuff. "He said it was hand drawn by the Aqua Deer Captain... though, I'm not too sure I believe that. It is still beautiful though! I can't wait till Lucas sees this since his birthday is coming up-".
Iris then remembered something very important. "Hang on a minute... his seventh birthday, he was very ill and had a really bad fever that day, but he still didn't close his door back then. Is this one worse than last year's? I highly doubt it...", she began to question.
Lucas's sister then put everything down on her bed and bent down to the floor and started to put her hand and ear against it. Her grimoire started to float, and she flicked through some pages. "There's something not right here... but I can't just leave and open his door in case he really is ill, so I'll just have to... be a bit cheeky here!" she stuck her tongue out as she spoke to herself.
"Earth Magic: Sounds of the Land...". Iris whispered her spell and a few sounds started to ring through her ear. The sounds of Mother and Father talking downstairs, although they were very quiet and secretive. There were also sounds of children playing outside the Church, but the sound her heart dropped at was the sound of Lucas crying, ever so quietly to himself in his room.
Iris stopped everything as she slowly rushed towards his room and started to pry it open with her Earth Magic. "I didn't realise he barred his own door... what in the world happened here?!" She thought to herself as she finally broke the door off its hinges.
She tried to focus her eyes on where Lucas was, but it was hard due to how dark his bedroom was. She scanned and eventually found a bump from underneath a blanket that was on his bed. She walked towards him slowly.
"Lucas... what's wrong?" Iris asked as she closed in.
Upon hearing that beautiful voice of hers, Lucas immediately jumped out of his blanket and rushed towards her to hug her tightly. At this point he let it all go and sobbed loudly and heavily.
Without Lucas even saying anything, she knew something bad had happened. As soon as Lucas started to cry, she lined the walls and floor with her Earth Magic to stop the sound going through and when she was done, she looked towards Lucas.
"Little brother, what happen-!" She noticed it. Her eyes examined Lucas's body and it was filled with tons of bruises and cuts as if someone had beaten him up. There were little cuts all over his little face, arms, and legs, as well as bigger ones on his right eye, right leg, right arm, neck and back. As she saw these, something in her lit up and she swore she would get to the bottom of this.
"B-B-Big Sis! Th-they did it! It was th-them!" He wailed and smothered his face into her chest, staining her white blouse with tears.
She rustled his ginger hair and kissed him on the forehead. Through Lucas's short words, she realised who had done this to him. Coupled together with the shady behaviour of both Mother and Father as well as how their stories didn't add up made her certain it was them. The people she loved did this to her little brother, and she believed Lucas straight away. Iris was an orphan herself, but she had never gone through something as abhorrent and disgusting as this.
"Earth Recovery Magic: Soothing Ground Mass...". Iris whispered as she formed a paste-like substance from her magic. She slowly lathered it over the cuts and bruises Lucas was a victim of and they slowly lifted the pain from her little brother's body.
"Y-your magic is so c-cool, Big Sis!" He kissed her cheek to show how grateful he was that he had someone like her in his life. He sat back into his bed as Iris separated the curtains to let the sunshine back through as Lucas had shut them earlier.
"Well of course! My dream is to be a doctor after all... who better to test my wacky spells on than my own foolish little brother..." she smiled, though her expression was short lived as she had to ask why this all happened. "Lucas... how did this happen?"
Lucas explained that he had gone to the lake to find flowers for her just as a thank you. "Then I t-tripped and I f-fell and then suddenly I h-had T-Time Magic... I showed it to her... to M-Mother and she hit me and slapped me and s-said that they were only ni-nice to me be-cause I h-have Light Mag-gic... then they carried o-o-on hurting me for t-the rest of the n-night...". Lucas hiccupped once again as he cried even more, after explaining his turmoil and despair.
Iris was crying too. She could not believe what her little brother had gone through while she was only a few houses away. "Come L-Lucas, we're running away from here. Right now". The Sister slowly picked him up and rested the boy in her arms and he leaned on her shoulder as if he was a baby on a mother.
"No! If you run away, then you w-won't be able to become a d-doctor. You're already 16, you have the chance to get a job soon... I can run away myself somewhere!" Lucas cried. He really did love his sister and if she had to give up her dream, then he felt selfish about it.
Iris kissed him on the forehead again. "Lucas... I'll gladly give up my dream if it means you'll be safe. I love you, brother". She rustled the crying brother's hair once more as she left the room.
Iris only had a few minutes to get prepared, so she packed only the essentials. The 16-year-old grabbed her backpack she used for school to shove a few clothes and dresses as well as food and water. She also had Lucas wear his school backpack and did the same for him.
The two foster siblings had begun to escape the place that they called home. Iris saw Mother and Father walking back inside and they were both nearing to the stairs. After they had almost come to the base of the stairs, she quickly ran back up and re-entered Lucas's room. With her quick thinking, she opened the window and formed a mud slide out of her magic, and their escape began to play out.
"We'll always be together, Lucas". She smiled and looked at the boy's eyes. They were tearing up again and so she wiped them with her thumb.
After a few minutes of running, she actually realised... "Lucas, I have no idea where I'm going...!" she winked and sought to lighten the mood to which she did as Lucas stuck his tongue out at her and called her silly. "At least he's not too damaged mentally... as far as I know". "Oh! I know, let's go find Melanie and her dad... he'd know how to help!"
Iris sneakily and secretly kept to the outskirts of the little town village, hopping from bush to bush and tree to tree until she found the house that she had just spent the last three days at. She knocked quietly but multiple times in a row to make sure the residents would open the door, and within a few seconds, they did.
"I-Iris? And little Lucas?" Melanie opened the door and Iris and her brother barged in. "W-what brings you here? I only saw you a few hours ago... do you already miss me?" she giggled, but her laughter was cut short when she saw the condition Lucas was in.
After Iris explained the situation and what had happened while she was away, Melanie felt her heart ache and sympathised with the two. "O-okay, hang on! Let me get my father, he would know what to do".
A few seconds passed and Melanie's father, David, appeared, rushing in through the back door and covered in mud as he was tending to the farmlands. The situation was explained to him as well and he offered an escape plan to the two siblings.
"There's a little house I just bought in the next town over that you can live in. It's enough for four people so it can do the job for you two. Of course, if you live there then Melanie and I will also relocate alongside you to protect you guys from harm". David said as he outlined a plan for them to follow.
Iris was adamant on refusing the plan though. "No, we can;t jeopardise your way of life because of our own problems! Just speaking with us now is risky enough considering we're still so near to the Church...". The 16-year-old lowered her eyes in sadness.
David walked up to them and rustled both of their heads and smiled. As he did so, they cracked a smile too. "That's what I like to see. If I'm able to protect those smiles then that's what we'll do, besides, Melanie and I were looking to move anyway". He winked and tilted his head at the two. "Oh, before you say anything... Water Recovery Magic: Bubble Essence". The adult healed Lucas's injuries and he was able to walk on his own. Although the deep injuries located on the right side of his body were also healed, the scars remained; the scar on his right eye, the scar on his right arm and leg as well as the scars on his neck and back were there.
The little ginger kid, who was beaten and bruised, was now healed and he ran to hug David, though he couldn't reach so he ended up hugging his leg instead. "Th-thank you... so much, um... Mister... Mr Melanie's Dad!" He rubbed and smothered his tear-stained face into the dad's trousers.
Iris looked towards the scene and then back to Melanie and she sighed. "Fine... I guess he's already attached to you, physically and mentally, haha! We'll take you up on your offer, but we will definitely make it up to you!" She bowed her head to the two kind-hearted people in front of her.
Melanie grabbed her friend and hugged her tightly. "We're here for you. Well, I guess we're moving to a new house earlier than we thought".