The shining sun started to dim as it set in the west of the Clover Kingdom. The nightly breeze picked up and swayed throughout the Forsaken Realm. It swept through the Town of Missbrauch, but that isn't where Lucas and Iris were anymore. The two siblings had escaped with the help of another family to one of the neighbouring towns, the Town of Hoffvol.
In a small little house in the middle of the town, there were four people getting ready for bed. Their names were David and Melanie, who were both father and daughter, and Lucas and Iris, who were both brother and sister, albeit foster ones.
"Big Sis Iris?". Lucas asked the red-haired young teen who was beside him. They both lay in one bed on the ground floor of the house. The other two were in a separate room just past the kitchen area so both families had a space to themselves.
"Yes, Lucas?" Iris responded, looking into the eyes of her little brother who seemed to have regained a bit of light to them.
"It's been two weeks since we've moved here, and you haven't told me a single bedtime story!" The eight-year-old child pouted and stuck his tongue out in a bid to tease the teenager.
"Well, it just so happens that I picked up a storybook from a merchant earlier today, but if you're going to be silly then I won't read it to you". Iris turned her head away and closed her eyes from her little brother, pretending to be annoyed. Unknown to Lucas, however, she was slightly looking through her left eye to see what his reaction would be.
The fair-skinned sister felt a rustle on the bed sheets and slyly looked to see what Lucas was doing, and he was doing just as she had expected. He had gotten up from his position of laying down and sat up, starting to tug at Iris's nightgown and he started to apologise.
Iris turned around and caressed the ginger child's cheeks and gave him a kiss to the forehead. "You don't have to apologise to me, I'm only teasing you back!" She winked and then stuck her tongue out, just as Lucas had done a few seconds ago.
"Haha! You're so silly, Big Sis Iris!" He laughed and hugged her waist in response.
The two carried on laughing and joking for a few minutes after that and then stopped.
"Okay, okay! I'll read you a story but promise me you'll listen". Iris brought the storybook out from the nightstand and the book itself was quite big.
The cover and the back of it was coloured a bright gold. The stitching that held it together was of a blue thread, and there was one significant picture in the middle of the front cover. It was of a man, dressed in expensive-looking clothes and held something significant in his hand. It was a gold grimoire that was glowing, and in the middle of that grimoire were four gold leaves.
"Open it! Open it, please!" Lucas nudged on Iris's hands and she obliged.
Iris then started to read as she opened the storybook.
"This is a story about the people who protect the Clover Kingdom. They are amazing and powerful mages known as the Wizard Kings. There have been 28 Wizard Kings so far and each of them possessed a great amount of power. They all used it to help the Kingdom grow and to protect its people... The first Wizard King's name was Lumiere Silvamillion Clover and he possessed... Oh!"
Iris paused and thought to herself. "Maybe I can make this more interactive for Lucas here...". She turned her head towards Lucas who was on the same pillow as her, gawking at the storybook in great focus. "Hey, Lucas. Guess what type of magic the first Wizard King had". She smiled at him.
"Oh... he must have had Flame Magic! It's such a cool power!" His smile beamed at Iris who had to let out a chuckle.
"No, silly... he had Light Magic!" Iris smirked at Lucas as she knew it would get a reaction from it.
"Woah... so am I the first Wizard King's son?" He questioned. Lucas genuinely believed it as well which was the most heart-warming and cutest thing, but unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case at all.
"The first Wizard King was alive hundreds of years ago, there's no way you could be his son! You do have the same type of magic, so maybe you could become as powerful as him?" Iris giggled and saw that Lucas had stars in his eyes. He was full of hope.
The girl continued to read...
"It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by the demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the Wizard King, and he became a legend".
Iris also detailed how Lumiere was an amazing and kind-hearted person who always wanted to help others in need, no matter if they were rich or poor, royal or peasant, noble or commoner.
"There have been 28 Wizard Kings in total, and the most recent one is someone who is loved by everyone across the Kingdom. His name is... Julius Novachrono and he possesses... Oh...". Iris paused as she realised what the problem with what she was about to say would be.
"Why have you stopped, Big sis?" Lucas wondered. "What is his magic?"
Iris realised there was no point in avoiding the truth since he was once told already. "Remember when I said there was a Magic Captain that had Time Magic?" Iris paused and scratched her neck in in embarrassment.
"Yeah..." the small boy replied.
"It turns out I was wrong about that... he is actually the Wizard King, aha...". She laughed nervously.
There was a silent pause for a few seconds before a loud shout broke the silence. That shout came from none other than Lucas himself who, instead of being in bed as it was now the middle of the night, he was jumping up and down, ruining the bed sheets and causing Iris to panic.
Iris quickly got up and covered the ecstatic child's mouth with her hands. "Shhhhh! Melanie and her dad are right in the other room! Please be quiet!" She tried to whisper, though it was basically in her normal voice as she told him off.
A few seconds went by and Lucas calmed down after his crazy antics. "Woah... so I have magic like the first Wizard King... and the current Wizard King...?". Lucas's light had returned to his eyes after than revelation, but they quickly diminished once more, soon after.
"Wh-what's wrong, Lucas?" Iris looked towards the boy who had retreated back into the bed's covers and turned his face away from his sister.
"My T-Time Magic is something I h-h-hate! Even if the Wizard King is so amazing and we have the same... I'll never use mine ever!" He spoke seriously for what seemed like the first time ever from Iris's shocked reaction.
Her pupils shrunk and her lips started to quiver. "I-I've never seen him like this before... especially when he talks about himself". Before Iris could talk back to her little brother, she realised he had fallen asleep, with his tears staining his white pillow he rested his head on.
The night which started so positively for the two siblings, had ended in negativity soon after.
A few days had passed since the conversation about the Wizard King between Lucas and Iris. Even though Lucas was pretty sad and annoyed, more towards himself than anything, he didn't show it at all and instead carried on as usual.
The Town of Hoffvol was a small town, but a bit bigger than Missbrauch. It only consisted of around 10 houses, but everyone was happy and content with their lives. There was even a mini shopping square that travelling merchants would go through. The outskirts of the town was surrounded by a huge forest that basically encased the town inside, and there was also a lake just near Melanie's house where Lucas loved to play.
Lucas was coming back from skipping and singing by the lake to talk to his sister about something when he ran into a stranger. Lucas fell and blamed himself for his clumsy nature, but as he tried to get up, he was met by the stranger who offered him a helping hand. This stranger was in fact not a stranger at all, but one of the residents that lived in the town. He knew about the whole situation with Lucas and Iris and they, as well as the whole town, welcomed them. As the man touched Lucas's hand, he was met with a scream of terror and Lucas ran away immediately.
This was the effect of what had happened to Lucas with his previous 'family'. Lucas was genuinely afraid of people outside of his immediate circle which only consisted of Iris, Melanie, and her father. Lucas shivered and felt sick when others would try and speak or bond with him. His trust for people couldn't be repaired, at least not for a long time. He ran away and hid behind a tree for a few minutes to calm himself down, and when he did, he sought out Iris.
"Big Sis Iris". Lucas entered the house and pulled on his sister's apron as she was working on washing the dishes they had just eaten breakfast from. She quickly finished her chore and sat down at the table to address Lucas. Lucas did not want to talk about what had just happened with him and buried it deep inside his mind.
"Yes, Lucas? She responded, gulping down some water from her cup.
Lucas was mulling over something else, as if he was really debating about it in his head, but he eventually gained the courage to reveal what he was thinking about.
"I... I want to become the Wizard King!" He exclaimed with his eyes shut and mouth open wide with how he shouted. One of the windows were open and people from outside also heard the statement. A part of him expected that he would be laughed at or simply waved away, but that wasn't the case at all, and he carried on speaking. "I... I want to become the best Magic Knight, work my way up and become the Wizard King, and w-when I am one, I... I want to move you, Melanie, and Mr Melanie's Dad to a castle where we can all live together!" He shouted even louder, prompting happy looks from the other families around who had been outside. "B-but... the main reason I want to b-become one is..." he gulped and opened his eyes. "I want to teach love and h-happiness to every family in the Kingdom so t-that ch-children like me will never h-have to g-go through what I did...!"
Iris was left in shock. She knew she had to ask about the future and what Lucas would want to do. She assumed it would be to simply become a Magic Knight, but to think she heard those words out of her little brother's mouth was very surprising. Even though she felt like this, she knew what she had to do.
"You'll definitely become the Wizard King, Lucas!" Iris showed full support to her younger brother with her raising her thumbs to him. Even after all they had been through, if they didn't support one another then that was when their relationship would falter. She also started to tear up at hearing Lucas's motives behind wanting to become the Wizard King. She knew he was a pure and innocent boy and with what he said, it just reinforced her sibling love for him, and she was proud.
"Wait, r-really? You think I can do it?" He looked into her bright yellow and warm eyes. There wasn't a hint of doubt in her expression and Lucas started to get emotional.
"Of course, you can! I'll even train with you, how about that?" Iris looked to her surprised little brother who had started to wipe tears that were sat on top of his eyelids, ready to flow.
Lucas charged in for a hug with his supportive sister and the two embraced.
"I love you". Both of them said as they hugged one another.
A few weeks had passed since Lucas's revelation at wanting to become the Wizard King. Every day, the two siblings would train with each other and through the help of Melanie's dad, David, Lucas even learned some body exercises that would help train his muscles up. Lucas was working on both his magic and his body. It was a tough combination to stick to, but his resolve was definitely there.
"Earth Magic: Mud Wall of Defence!" Iris shouted as she formed a barrier made out of the earth she had been standing on. It was rock hard and one of her most powerful defensive spells. She looked on at her brother who had started charging.
Lucas was only eight years old, and with no grimoire, it meant he had no magic spells. The ginger-haired child could only use his magic in its most basic form, but that wasn't going to stop him from pushing himself to improve. The blue-eyed child ran to her and extended his left arm which shot out some Light Magic.
It is a known fact that Light Magic is one of the most powerful types of magic in the world, and amongst the quickest, but Lucas's wasn't like that at all. It was powerful already, but it was quite slow compared to what was commonly known to be a quick attribute.
"Take th-this!" he fired a slow beam of Light Magic from his left palm and it reached Iris's defence. Without even a second after the impact, Lucas's magic tore apart her mud wall immediately and it disintegrated.
Iris was gobsmacked. This was the first time since they started training that he had managed to have that much of an effect with his Light Magic and it was scary how fast he was improving. Considering he didn't even know how to use his magic in an offensive way beforehand, Lucas had improved a lot. "Woah... You're amazing! But make sure it doesn't get to your head, Lucas. Remember, you can never become the best if you think you're the best already!"
"Of course, I know that! I love Light Magic, it's so cool". Lucas jumped up and down as he punched the air in happiness and excitement.
"This kid... since he's so focused on his dream, maybe I can still become a doctor...". Iris trailed off.
The two spent their days training every day. Even when Iris was getting tired, Lucas continually motivated her by his personality and demeanour that he constantly showed. There was only one thing Lucas refused to do or train... and that was his Time Magic as it had brought so much pain to him.
NOTES:
So, what did you guys think? This fan fic has started slowly but it's only to build context and other things such as motivations behind what Lucas wants to be.
Lucas, the poor kid, wants to become the Wizard King and for such a wholesome reason as well :(
Obviously, the abuse he suffered from his 'family' is going to take a toll on him and this is a big factor in this story.
TIMESKIP SOON!