"Listen, Law. There is always hope. A merciful helping hand will reach out to you, like this."
Those were the words that passed through his mind, as he was guided down the hallway, towards the living room. It was a shame, really. He always told himself that those words were false, that the deaths of all of those he cared about proved them to be wrong. It took the death of one more to prove him wrong.
"So! Are you excited to meet them sweetheart?" his 'mother' asked. He didn't know how to reply. He just pulled his hat down to keep his face covered. He didn't need fake enthusiasm, especially not now.
Her face lightened somewhat. "...Listen sweetie, I know this might be… uncomfortable for you; in fact I could probably say the same for all of us. We're a strange bunch, I won't deny that, but we've never done something like this before." He didn't argue that. Blood would tell in the end, after all. "I know you wanted more time with us to try and ease in, but if anything comes up we'll help you through it, right honey?"
"That's right! We're in this together!" Ugh. These two were way to sappy, in his opinion. It reminded him too much of… them.
They finally reached the end of the hallway. He could hear some bickering on the other side of the wall. Scratch that; a lot of bickering.
"Alright sweetie. Why don't you wait here, and come out once we call you? We'd like to break it to them slowly." In his opinion, he'd rather get this over as quickly as possible, but instead he nodded silently.
The two adults gave him a warm smile, before turning around the corridor. Well, today was the day. Time for him to meet his new 'family.'
Ever heard of a family meeting? You know, that thing where the whole family gathers in one place to discuss something important? Well, today was one of those days. Lectures in the Loud Family were pretty frequent, especially with this many kids, but when the whole family was called to the living room at once? Well, that's when the real stuff goes down.
That was why, unlike his sisters who were bickering with each other as usual, Lincoln grabbed the edges of his seat very tightly, like he was on a rollercoaster. If there was going to be a tsunami of yells and crossed arms coming his way, then at the very least he wanted to brace himself.
His nerves shot into high gear when his mom and dad came around the corner, but relaxed somewhat when he noticed they were smiling. Maybe they decided to go easy on them?
"Alright, everyone settle down." The sisters did not, in fact, settle down, and instead kept bickering like there was no tomorrow. Mom frowned. "Settle down THIS INSTANT YOU'RE ALL GROUNDED UNTIL THE TOILET IS UNCLOGGED!"
Well, that got their attention. Within two seconds they all sat neatly, either on the couch or on the ground, and folded their fingers together.
The mom smiled at their prim responses. "Thank you." She ignored Lana's raspberry at Lola; there were more important matters to discuss. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here today."
"Yo, we're not in trouble or anything, are we?" asked Luna.
"Might this have anything to do with the fact that there's a black spot on our roof?" More insight from Lisa, as usual.
Mom shook her head. "No kids, we have an important announcement to make." Lincoln quietly let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness; it wasn't going to be one of 'those' talks after all. "We… are having another child!"
Ah, so they were having another chi-
Wait, what?
Maybe he would have been able to ponder this a little better, had Lynn not spit her water all over him! "We're getting yet another Loud?!" And she stole his line. Brilliant.
A wave of shock passed over the rest of Lincoln's sisters, their reactions a blend of surprise and awe. Not like he could blame them. Who would've guessed something like this?
What he COULD blame his sisters for, was the regularly scheduled chaos that came with being the only brother in the Loud Family. Their ancestor must have had some weird observational powers to grant this family the surname 'Loud'. Or maybe that was just them being pessimistic.
"Ooh! Ooh! Does this mean our family will have fifteen members?"
"The birth of one is but a candle in the everlasting darkness we call life."
"Wait! Can I name him? Please? Something that starts with 'L'... how about Lorgi if it turns out to be a girl?"
In this order they spoke: Leni, Lucy, and Lori. Lincoln didn't bother trying to decipher the rest of the yelling going on. Man, they were really excited for this, weren't they?
"Now hold on kids, you've got the wrong idea! We're not having a kid in the uh… the traditional sense. We're adopting!"
Oh, so it was adoptio-
Wait, WHAT!
Suddenly all the Loud siblings were thrown into another fit of hysteria. Adoption? Such a thing was… unheard of in the Loud Family. Among the yells of confusion, Lincoln suddenly gained Velocity Five adrenaline.
With an arch of his neck, Lincoln swiftly dodged Lynn's waterspout, which struck Lori in the face. As much as he enjoyed Lori's suffering, he ignored it, for he needed to ask his father,
"Adopting? So mom's not…" Uh, how to describe it?
"No, she's not son." Oh, good. He wasn't sure how to finish that sentence anyway.
"What's adoption?" asked Lola, in the middle of their conversation.
"Wait a minute… if I remember correctly, you two have been arriving home later than usual." Leave it to Lisa to unravel the mystery of just what the heck was going on. "I was always curious about that strange gap in time, but were you two by any chance…"
Their parents looked at each other. They had to reveal this eventually. "Yes kids, we've been running by the orphanage to spend some time with someone." It was their dad who made the reveal known to them.
"Okay, but… why?" Lisa continued the questioning.
"Dunno! Guess I kinda liked the kid!" Somehow Lincoln didn't buy his dad's short explanation. "Besides, uh, he hasn't really had anyone for a while now."
"...Is it a boy or a girl?" Lynn suddenly asked.
Dad grinned. "A boy."
A boy? As in… not a sister?! Lincoln shot up on the couch, his arms reaching out to victory. At long last, he was no longer alone in this fight for survival! Even if it wasn't by blood, he finally had…
"A brother!"
A collective groan from some of his sisters made the reveal all the more satisfying. Just imagine it! A Loud who could share his sympathy for once, someone who could guide him through these rough times, someone who-
"Great. Another twerp. Exactly what I want." And of course Lori had to ruin. But who cares? He had a brother!
Mom frowned. "Be nice Lori, you haven't met him yet." Yeah, take that Lori! Broooother power! "Well, why don't we start with introductions?" She turned towards the corridor behind her. "You can come in now!"
What did he look like? Was he young? Was he tall? Did he have a burning passion for reading manga like he did? Man, the possibilities are endl-
Oh.
Why was he shivering all of a sudden? Lincoln didn't know why, but a chill ran down his spine the moment his eyes met the cold gaze of his new brother. And judging from his spotted cap, it wouldn't be too much of an assumption that he came from a cold place. His mouth curled down into a frown, and somehow Lincoln got the feeling it was locked in that position. He was not at all what he expected his brother to be like.
But what really put him off were the white splotches vandalizing various parts of his skin. Was it some kind of infection? Maybe it's better if he didn't ask.
"What's up with his skin?" Well, obviously Lana had no problem being blunt.
"Lana! Don't be rude." Lana shrank back in her seat as her mom placed her hands firmly on her hips. "It's a skin condition. It's currently in its regressive state; it should be gone within a few weeks." Oh, hey, he was right for once. "But enough about that. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself, sweetheart?"
Their sickly looking brother took a step forward. "Trafalgar Law."
Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Trafalgar? As in the Battle of Trafalgar, fought and won by Admiral Lord Nelson? Interesting choice for name."
"...Trafalgar is my surname. They refer to me as Law."
"I see. I assume that's because you or at least one of your ancestors hails from Japan." He had no idea what was going on between them, but Lincoln didn't want to miss this chance to introduce himself.
He jumped forward, blocking Lisa. "Hi! I'm-"
"Lincoln." Law pointed towards the sisters. "Lori, Leni, Lynn, Luna, Luan, Lucy, Lisa, Lola, Lana, and Lily." The latter let out a childish giggle at being mentioned. "And before you ask, no, your father didn't adopt me just because my name begins with an 'L.'"
"...Not how I imagined introductions would go, but- oh hey, how about this?" Dad suddenly beamed, as though he had another brilliant idea. And that usually meant something bad would follow. Lincoln was liking this scenario less and less. "Kids! Why don't you all say something you're into, and Law can come up with a nickname for each of you?"
"Nicknames?" Lincoln wondered. Why did his dad suddenly approve of nicknames?
"Yeah! He likes to call people by his own branded nicknames. Mine was Milleni-ya before it changed to just Lynn-ya." What the heck was up with the 'ya?'
"That's sounds fun!" Luan grinned. The others shivered. "I'll go first! But first, is it getting cold in here? 'Cause someone should really-"
"Turnip the heat. Joke-ya. Next." Luan's grin faded at the same time her pun did. If Law could do that every time Luan came up with another of her lame puns, having him around would be a godsend. Not to mention it wasn't even that cold.
"Uh, I'll go next I guess." It was pretty easy to tell that Leni was somewhat put off by Law's attitude. "I'm into fashion and anything fashion related."
"Lynn-ya mentioned you were an airhead of sorts." Law pointed out.
"No I'm not! I don't even eat airheads!"
"...Airhead-ya it is then." Leni opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Luna, who began rocking her air-guitar. She did this for the next sixty seconds, as everyone stared at her. Then Law came to his conclusion.
"Euphori-ya. Next."
"Wait, I didn't even get to the-"
"NEXT."
"I'm next! I like sports!" Lynn proved this by spinning a football in her hand.
"Tom-ya. Next."
"What! Why?" whined the now dubbed Tom-ya.
"Lynn-ya has already been taken. Do something interesting and maybe I'll reconsider."
Tom-ya beamed. "How about I toss this football into that hoop over there?" She pointed to said hoop. "Will that impress you?"
Law sighed. "Fine. But do it quickly. It's almost night time."
She grinned in delight. She cocked back her arm and made a gun sound with her mouth. Then the football shot forward, soaring over everyone's head. With a swoosh it went down the hoop, no problem.
"There! How about that, Traffy?" she fistpumped.
"Foul-ya. Take it or leave it." Lincoln thought her antics would at least get a reaction, but the dude was a statue.
"Wha- Foul-ya! What the heck kind of nickname is that!?" She pointed at Law, baffled at the downgrade.
"To be fair dude, you did make a 3-pointer with a football." Yeah, Luna did have a point.
"I don't wanna hear that from you, Euphori-ya!"
"What was that, you little punk?!" Uh oh. Sibling fight in three, two, one…
"QUIET." Law silenced the room, two seconds faster than their dad. Dang. No funny business was getting to this guy. "Who is next?"
"Next, you wonder? I can't help but ask the same thing. When the everlasting darkness will come and consume us all. That day will come for certain." Lucy was being Lucy as usual. Not that Lincoln- or anyone for that matter, could be surprised.
"Dark-ya." Lucy didn't even bother arguing her nickname. If anything it was probably fitting.
Law stared at Lisa. "π24/2?"
"4.2713676*1011." she replied.
"Lisa-ya, then." Lisa nodded in acknowledgement. No one had no clue what just occurred, but Lola was the first to protest.
"How come SHE gets a regular name!?" Angrily, she pointed her finger at her four year old sister, who glanced back at her with the tiniest smirk.
Law, for his part, lazily shifted his pupils towards the gremlin of a sister. The choice here was pretty obvious, in his hindsight. "One-ya." Then he pointed towards Lana. "Two-ya."
"Ha! I get a higher number than you!" Lana's response was promptly greeted with a raspberry from Lola. It wasn't long before Lynn Sr. had to step in and break up their fight. Well, at least dad still shared the same pedestal as Law's.
Lori was up next, with Lily in her hands. They both stared at each other awkwardly. If Lincoln had to describe it, it was kind of like seeing an owl and an eagle butt heads. Except the owl was holding a .5 caliber magnum in its mouth.
"Uh… Lori-ya wouldn't be too much to ask for, would it?" the oldest Loud grinned sheepishly.
"Nag-ya."
"I knew it." she pouted. She obviously wanted to protest, but then again her nickname was pretty tame compared to the others. "What are you gonna name Lincoln?"
Ah, it was his turn! He leaped up into the air for the second time that day. Now was his time to shine! Time to show his new brother what he was-
"Brother-ya." Welp, there goes his self esteem. He slumped back down onto the couch, spared not a passing glance by his brother. Oh well, maybe he'd get to know him better later! ...After he got over himself, that is.
"Oh come on! You aren't even putting any effort into half of these nicknames!" Luan protested her point by flailing her arms about. This of course resulted in Leni getting smacked in the face. "I say it's time we lay down the 'Law', right girls?"
Everyone groaned. Except for Law, who probably heard this joke about a million times from dad.
"What about Lily? Come up with anything for her?" mom asked.
"I'll berate her when she's older." Lily obviously didn't understand Law's context, so she simply wriggled around in Lori's arms, oblivious to the sadistic nature that was Trafalgar Law. "Is that everyone? If that's the case I'd like to set up my room now…"
"Wait!" The two Loud parents yelled simultaneously. They both shared an awkward glance.
Mom let out a resigned sigh. "Okay, well, yes, I know it is kind of late sweetheart, but could you eat dinner with us at least? It doesn't have to be long."
Law glanced at her coldly. Or was his face just stuck that way? Lincoln couldn't tell.
"...Pretty please?" she blinked several times. So did their dad.
"...Fine. I don't start school tomorrow anyways." Their parents did a celebratory dance at his acceptance.
Unbeknownst to them, several of the Loud siblings secretly wished they had just let him set up his room. They had just been introduced to their new brother and he was already holding most of the authority in the house.
Luna shifted in her seat awkwardly.
Dang. These chicken tenders tasted really good. But she'd give them all up if it meant breaking the tense atmosphere at the grown up table.
Dad actually suggested they have all the Louds at the adult table, in celebration of their newest sibling (which by the way, still baffled her immensely), but mom debunked that idea, saying that it would be better for Law to ease in slowly. And that meant none of the flinging meatballs or spraying ketchup. And in all honesty, getting sniped in the face with a meatball seemed so much better right now. Because at the moment Law looked like he was ready to cut something up and put it back together like some kind of twisted jigsaw puzzle.
If only she could break a tune. Or do anything to escape the fate of having to sit next to the miniature serial killer. From what she heard her new brother just barely made it into their age group to have the oh-so glorious privilege of sitting at the adult dinner table. And that did not make her feel better. At all.
Luna let out a sigh. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit. She did have ten other siblings she had to deal with after all; one of which was just as creepy as Law, if not creepier. Actually, scratch that; Law was definitely the creepier one. What if she started a conversation? Who knows, maybe he'd find the topic interesting.
"Sooooo, Law! Whatcha wanna be when you grow up?" She scooted closer to Law, against her better judgement. She didn't see the warning signs being held up by her fellow sisters. Maybe she should have gone with a less unoriginal question.
"A doctor." Oh hey, that's pretty cool! "A surgeon to be more precise."
"A sir… jen?" drawled Leni, although to be fair that term was kind of difficult. "What's a sir-gen?"
"It's kind of like a doctor, but instead of uh, say, giving medicine, they replace your insides with new ones." explained dad, with an awkward grin. "I heard they get paid well."
"Really well. Even more than a CEO if I've heard correctly." Huh, now Lori was in on the conversation. Luna was glad she managed to jumpstart it; now she was pretty interested in where it was headed. "You aiming to be rich when you grow up?"
"...The practice merely interests me is all." Law silently took another bite of his chicken tenders, staring down at his plate. Huh, that was weird. He almost seemed… solemn for a second.
It became silent again. Luna mentally facepalmed. Dangit! Just when she managed to get things moving. Maybe she should try bringing up another topic? No, that would only make things more awkward. What to do…
Nope, nothing came up.
"Law, sweetie, could you please pass the ketchup?" asked mom. Actually, it might be better if she did it. No point straining her new sibling when the bottle was closer to her. She went to grab the bottle with a sidelong glance, when…
Whoa. Freaky blue film of light. Okay, that was weird. And- what the heck? Where'd the ketchup bottle go? And why was she suddenly holding a dirty napkin?
She glanced around to see if she wasn't crazy, but her sisters were sharing similar looks, particularly towards the dirty napkin in Luna's hand. She could have SWORN the bottle was in her hand.
"Thank you Law. Although do remember what I said about using that ability; I'll let it slide for now since your father is a little too eager for more tenders. I should probably start doing the dishes, please excuse me." She turned to face mom entering the kitchen, and lo and behold; the ketchup bottle was there beside their dad.
"I should probably help with the dishes as well. You kids behave, okay?" Dad got up and followed mom into the kitchen.
"Uh, did anyone else just notice that?" Even Lynn was spooked. This was getting weird. Really weird.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it wasn't me this time." For once they actually believed Luan. Wait, why did their mom mention Law again?
The aforementioned Law wiped his face with a napkin. "It's getting late. Tell Rita-ya and Lynn-ya that I will be setting up my room tomorrow."
"Yo, wait up bro." Luna called out. Law's gaze intensified, albeit briefly. Did he not like being called 'bro?' "Where you gonna sleep?"
"The couch." ...Okay, well, in hindsight that was pretty obvious. "Is there anything wrong with that, Euphori-ya?"
She winced. Apparently dad wasn't kidding about that whole nicknames thing. "Uh, no bro, I just-" But Law left before she could finish stuttering. She stared back at the table. Her sisters gave her a sympathetic look.
Guess settling in was gonna take some time.