A/N: Thanks to NekoRyuuKo and Dreams-Wishes-Hopes for reviewing. It helps a lot to know what people think of my story. There isn't too much action in this chapter, but hopefully it isn't really boring.
He and his father left before the sun had begun to rise. The Vargas parents wanted the process of going from five to four to be done as quickly with the hopes of improving their social standing as soon as possible. Following his father's instruction he had placed all of his belongings (just a few clothes) into a small bag along with some provisions and a letter.
"For the Omega you'll be staying with, my counterpart." was what his father had told him.
So he wouldn't be alone. It was a minor comfort, but Lovino would take what he could get. "So what are they like? The Omega." Mr. Vargas frowned at Lovino's question. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again before replying, "You'll see soon enough. Come along, we aren't far from the station." Lovino wasn't content with a "you'll see". He wanted to have at least some clue as to what he was getting thrown into. "Are you sure you can't tell me anything? Not even their name?" He asked. Lovino got a harsh look in return. "Whatever." He mumbled.
Before long they reached the station, right as the first rays of light began to appear on the horizon. Even if his father now knew he was an Omega, and had never been that attached all to him to begin with, Lovino was still hurt by his lack of a goodbye. All the man had done was give him a firm shove and stood waiting for him to go inside. 'If he wants to be that way then fine, let him. Good riddance.' He contemplated voicing his thoughts along with a certain gesture he'd seen done by some older kids, but decided against it. His father might not have wanted anything to do with him anymore, but he wouldn't hesitate to whack him for misbehavior. And he'd rather start his new life without any bruises.
"Here goes," He whispered to himself before stepping into the building. The station for transporting Omegas was small, the building only had a small waiting room and the outdoor platform to board a train to the reservation. Himself aside, only two other people occupied the room. One was a woman behind a desk who must've worked here (and not liked it very much judging from the sour expression) and another Omega. Unlike Lovino, this Omega had physical deformities making her easier to identify than him.
The girl was about three or four, the youngest age an Omega was allowed to be sent away at, and was missing her left arm as well as two fingers on her right. Because of this, Lovino couldn't help but stare and be reminded how different he was from other Omegas. 'And that difference could get me into trouble.' He felt the urge to cry again. His new caretaker, his father's Omega sibling, would probably be expecting some deformed brat, not someone who looks perfectly normal and doesn't have anything wrong with their head. 'What if they won't take care of me because they don't think I belong? Will I be kicked out of the reservation? Am I going to be stuck in the wild?' Lovino's head filled with all shorts of negative questions and ideas so rapidly he barely paid attention to the other Omega anymore. When he heard the train pull up outside and saw it through the window his dread and the urge to cry only intensified. Oh god, what was he going to do?
The woman behind the desk cleared her throat and signaled for both Omegas to make their way onto the train. The other Omega wasted no time grabbing her meager possessions and heading for the train but Lovino found it much harder to follow. This was it. He was going to leave this town and all he'd ever known and never come back. The woman working there had no sympathy for him and cleared her throat, this time louder than the last, before grumbling about stupid Omegas. Lovino grabbed his bag and walked slowly onto the boarding platform and to the train. The younger Omega had already found herself a seat on the floor (the train didn't possess any passenger cars that had originally been intended for people) among some of the other Omegas that were from other towns.
All of them were from the ages of three to eleven (save for Lovino who was a little under three months shy of thirteen) and all of them had some defect or another visible on their body, not counting Lovino and one other kid whom you could tell by the blank look on their drooling face very likely didn't have much going on in their head. The door behind him shut and inside the car was barely visible. Doing his best not to trip over any limbs, Lovino quickly sat down in an empty space near the kid with the drool. He placed his bag in his lap and hugged it tightly. In the span of a few hours his life had drastically changed and he was sure he had never been more scared and uncertain in his life, but for Lovino this would only be the beginning.
-X-X-X
The four day trip involved stifling heat inside the non-insulated train car, lots of crying from Lovino and many of the other Omegas, one stop to pick up a few more Omegas, and everyone trying to ignore the foul stench coming from the large bucket that served as a restroom for the duration of the trip. Lovino had never been so filthy or irritated in all of his twelve years of life. He, and the other Omegas, were in dire need of a bath and he swore if that one little kid on the other side of the car didn't stop crying he'd stomp over there and give him a reason to cry (not that they didn't have one, but the last four days wore down the little patience he had), though he wouldn't be surprised if a few kids closer had already tried that since some had already tried and failed to console the child and looked just as annoyed as he did.
To the relief of everyone, the train had come to a stop and the doors to the car had been pushed open with the orders to exit the vehicle. It took a little while for everyone to get out (and not for a lack of eagerness) once they finally were Lovino thought he was going to fall over. His legs had severe cramping due to the lack of movement during the past four days. He shuffled his feet around to try and get them back to normal and took some time to observe his surroundings.
The Omega reservation was several acres of land with huts and what looked like farms surrounded by a fence that reached higher up than any building Lovino had seen from his hometown. Off to the right of the reservation was a large white building with guards stationed outside of it. From the entrance of the white building three figures stepped out. Two guards and a very stern looking woman who kept a hold of the attention of Lovino and some of the others as they made their way towards them.
"I am Dr. Free," The stern looking woman announced. If any Omegas hadn't been paying attention before, they were now (excluding the drooling kid, they never paid attention to anything-at least not for long). "This is Omega reservation no. 07 and your new living area. You will all come with me for a screening and marking before being placed in your proper place. Before we begin I want one thing to be clear: you are to cause no trouble whatsoever. You obey the rules and do as you are told. Chaos of any degree will not be tolerated. Now, it's time for your screening to begin." The woman turned back toward the building and didn't bother looking back to be sure her orders were being followed. That's what the guards were for.
"Get moving." One of them barked. None of the Omegas wasted much time, the one of slower thought process included, because none wanted to deal with the guard's anger. They were all herded into the white building before being split up and sent to their examination room. Nothing of interest happened during Lovino's physical examination (the nurse made no comments of his lack of physical deformities, but that was fine by him) until the moment when he tried to walk out the door.
He had made all but two steps before the nurse placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just a moment," she told him before gesturing for him to take a seat again. Lovino jerked away from the contact, the only person he was okay with touching him was Feliciano. The thought of his brother made him jealous of the no doubt wonderful new life he was having yet sad that he'd never see him again. 'I'm not even sure he'd want to see me anymore.' Lovino went and took his seat, a scowl now on his face. The sour look changed to one of concern when two guards walked in and locked the door behind them.
As they walked up to Lovino he opened his mouth to ask what they were doing only to scream when they put their hands on him. "L-let go of me bastards!" He shouted while attempting to break free. One arm was held out towards the nurse who now held a rod with some strange curved symbol on it glowing bright red. Lovino's struggles increased, but a little adrenaline did nothing to get the two, fully grown men off of him.
"This will hurt at first, but the pain will fade within a week or so. We'll give you bandages for it but you need to remember to change them every day to avoid infection." The nurse replied casually, as if she weren't about to do something horrible to Lovino. 'No no no no NO NO NO NO DON'T PLEASE DON'T' Lovino tried as hard as he could to try and persuade her with his ability but his suggestion went ignored. The hot symbol was pressed onto the back of his hand. Lovino screamed.
-X-X-X
One, as the other Omegas on reservation no. 07 had taken to calling her, rarely got any visitors. No one really socialized with anyone aside of those they lived with, and she wasn't one of the slightly better off Omegas who would sometimes be kind enough to give charity. It was probably some truly desperate Omega that had been turned down by everyone else. Maybe she'd help them out if they were/had a youngling. One had a soft spot for children.
"Hang on," She called to whomever was waiting outside her hut. Using her only fully functioning limb (which why others called her that-her real parents never gave her a name), her arm, and the small stubs she had at the end of her body she crawled over to the door and pushed it open. Looking down on her (something that had never bothered her since it had always been like this) was a young boy. A boy with a bandage on his right hand and a strange curl, much like the one she had on her head.
One might not have had any schooling at all in her however many years of life, but she made the connection. "So my other had children, eh? What's your name boy?" She asked. She searched around for any physical defects, but didn't find any. Maybe he was one that was just empty in the head-"Lovino. I live with you now." He reached into his bag with his good hand and pulled out something. One had seen a few Omegas with something similar before, but wasn't quiet sure what it was for. "Huh? What is it?" She asked. "A letter, from my-your twin." Lovino fidgeted and tried not to stare at her missing arm and legs. One scoffed, "They sent me away as soon as I was old enough to be shipped off. I don't care what it has to say, 'sides, not like I could read the damn thing. Come inside boy, you've arrived just in time for dinner. Hope you like boiled potato."
-X-X-X
Lovino's hand hurt like hell. 'Those bastards, having the nerve to fucking brand me.' He scowled before pulling out the bandages the nurse gave him. Carefully, as to not cause any additional pain to the injury, Lovino pulled back the bandages revealing the curved symbol that been forever burned into his skin. He began to wrap the bandage clumsily around his injury with his left hand. The final product was sloppy as a result of him using his non-dominant hand and he was content to just leave it that way when he heard the sound of something being dragged across the floor.
"They placed the brand on your hand? That'll only make the next few days in the fields unpleasant." One tsk'ed. "Why'd they have to brand us anyway? We live on a reservation who's sole inhabitants are Omegas. Dumb bastards." Lovino muttered, still angry at what they did. Normally he'd get scolded for foul language but One seemed to agree with him. "I guess it's good for us we're stuck in here eh? Only have to deal with their stupidity every now an then. I know it hurts kid, but try and get some sleep. We have plenty of work waiting for us tomorrow." One crawled over to a pile of rags that served as her bed. Lovino laid down on his own and stared up at the thatch ceiling. He thought of Feliciano and his new life and wondered if his brother thought about him. Even if he'd never see him again, it would've been nice to be remembered. 'I'll never know. ' was Lovino's last thought before sleep took him.
