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The Shamals stare, unabashed, at their intruder, minds working a mile a minute to figure out exactly what he was doing, sitting in their living room with all the lights off.
Fon smiles in return.
"Um-what-why are you here?" Ancile speaks, glancing curiously at her frozen brother.
"Don't tell me you forgot." His eyes flicker to Shamal's. "I'm here to collect you. I would've been here sooner but I had some business to attend to."
Ancile doesn't respond, mainly because she's reluctant to admit that she did forget but also because Shamal is still frozen in the doorway.
Honestly, it seems like he's not even breathing.
"Please, sit down, we have quite a bit to go over." Fon lifts a cup of tea to his lips earning a frown from Ancile. Still, she shuffled over, sitting in the chair opposite him. "Come now Shamal, don't make things more difficult than they have to be."
The words are spoken softly with an earnest tone but Shamal would be a fool to not recognize the threat staring him in the face. Swallowing down his pride, he sits down next to Fon, wishing desperately that he could stow Ancile somewhere far away.
The three of them sit in silence for what feels like hours, none of them willing to be the one that breaks. For Fon and Shamal it's a matter of pride.
For Ancile it's a matter of staying awake.
With a heavy sigh, Shamal gives in. "You said you had a lot to talk about."
Fon smiles around the lip of his cup. "No, I said we have a lot to talk about."
The two men stare long and hard at each other, smugness bleeding into Fon's gaze.
"Well then why don't we get started?" Shamal grumbles out.
"Of course." Fon sets his cup down on the table, turning to look at Ancile. "Is that fine with you?"
She nods back, brows furrowed at the man in front of her. She had been coming around to Fon over the past few months but seeing how on edge Shamal is has pushed her firmly back into "anti" territory.
Fon spends the next three hours detailing the trials and tribulations he's about to put Ancile through. He knows he lost her about 30 minutes into the speech (which, quite frankly, is a lot longer than he expected) and Shamal only lasted an hour longer. He tries not to chuckle at the twin perplexed looks on their faces but it's hard to control himself. The two look like carbon copies, head tilted slightly to the side, eyebrows furrowed, eyes slightly glazed and mouth parted open just a bit. He could have Lichi swing in and start wrecking all of their furniture and they probably still wouldn't react.
All the better for him, really. He's never taken an apprentice before but he's not especially inclined towards taking it easy on the girl. He continues talking half heartedly, switching to an unrelated topic before focusing his attention on her.
Renato had asked again and again what he saw in the child as if she hadn't piqued his interest as well. Honestly, Fon had no real explanation for it, something about her just drew him in. Sure when he originally thought up the idea it had been because of the potential he saw in her but how many children did he see daily that had the same amount. That had more? No, there was something about Ancile that urged him to take her under his wing. If he didn't know any better he'd assume she was a Sky. His eyes drift to her hands quickly where he can see flickering purple flames.
Definitely not a Sky.
If only he trusted Verde, certainly that man could figure this out; though a part of him shudders thinking about the lengths Verde would go to. When Fon had been introduced to the scientist, he had expected to be greeted by poise and logic, an air of dependability as the smartest and oldest of the I Prescelti Sette. Instead, he was forced into interacting with a madman in a lab coat that seems to have never learned basic manners.
Fon's loathe to admit it but Renato seems to be the only one sans Luce that actually knows how to behave. A scoff rises in his throat at the thought of the younger man that he hides behind a cough.
Ancile's yawn breaks him out of his thoughts. Plastering on a smile, he urges them both off to bed for a nap with a promise to pick up the conversation at lunch.
Neither one of the siblings notice that the hideous green vase has seemingly disappeared and a slightly less unsightly phone has taken its place.
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When Ancile wakes up she's surprised to see the sun shining so brightly in her room. She's never slept so late before and a part of her is steeped in anxiety at the thought. She stumbles out of bed, lazily rubbing the sleep away from her eyes.
Birds are chirping like crazy outside, more aggressive than she's ever heard. She can hear the gleeful shouts of the neighborhood boys playing around in the streets, Nonna Cosetta's voice is yelling out for them to be careful, laughter tinging her words.
The house is eerily quiet in comparison.
No pots are clanging in Shamal's pitiful attempts at making food, no water running to put out any of his potential fires. No sounds of a pen scratching furiously across paper as he goes over his patient's files.
There's not even the familiar smell of coffee in the air.
She pads softly over to the living room, trying to suss out exactly where her brother is. Quiet murmurs encourage her to keep going and she turns the corner, breathing out a sigh of relief when she sees Shamal perched on the couch.
Fon sitting next to him crushes that relief in an instant.
Her memory of what happened this morning is foggy at best, she won't even pretend that she was paying attention to what he was saying. Long, drawn out speeches about rules just aren't her thing.
Her face scrunches up so hard it's a shock that it doesn't stick permanently, her eyebrows are drawn together tightly as if she's hoping to wind back time to rewatch their previous interactions.
It's almost comical how quickly her face relaxes when she remembers what Fon is here for. She continues casually into the living room as if she hadn't attempted to recreate a Salvador Dalí painting a scant minute ago.
Shamal's heart seizes in his chest as he watches her stroll up to Fon. Officially, he's no longer her guardian and though he would still fight to the death for her, Fon had full authority in this situation.
Fon's eyebrow rises of its own accord as the little girl calmly approaches him. He's not sure where exactly she wants to go with this confrontation but he's thrilled at her initiative.
Even if he has to punish her for it.
She pauses in front of him, gazing up into his eyes directly. Her eyes are afire with determination, a relentless flame in a field of wind. Her mouth opens, drawing in a quick breath before speaking.
"Why are you here again?"
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"What are you laughing about?" A gentle voice filters through the room, breaking a man out of his silent laughter.
"What are you talking about? I'm not laughing." The man hurriedly moves aside, making space for her to sit down.
"Renato, please don't lie to me."
A beat of silence passes between the two, both weighing what they want to say. Eventually, Renato looks away, slumping against the wall with a sigh.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
The answer is hardly what she wants to hear but she nods, not willing to force the issue. Renato is the type of person that you can't push too much, lest he turn around and shove you off a cliff.
Besides, the small smile on his face is a welcome change from the usually stoic man.
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It's a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy woos girl into falling in love with him, boy gets girl pregnant, girl has baby, boy disappears, leaving both girl and baby.
Abandoning the people you love is a longstanding Shamal family tradition. Though the words "love" and "family" might be considered a slight exaggeration. Regardless, abandonment and Shamal go hand in hand.
Never before has anyone wanted so desperately to break tradition.
Shamal stares despondently at his sister, wishing he could snatch her away from the man holding her hand.
Ancile had been calm when the situation had been explained to her. Too calm if you ask him. This wasn't the rambunctious five year old that lived to make his life hell. Wasn't the girl that bird watched and made friends with the fishermen down at the docks. Wasn't the girl that callously eavesdropped and spread gossip around a town. Wasn't the little girl that loved as readily as his little sister.
This was a little girl that had grown way too accustomed to being left behind, sent off alone again and again. And god did he hate his father for doing this to her.
His eyes burn fiercely when he looks up at Fon. The telltale tingle of his flames activating shoots up his arms. He never expected Ancile to wedge herself so firmly in his heart when their father dropped her off but now the idea of life without her is heartbreaking.
Arms wrapping around his waist jolt him out of his thoughts and he slaps a smile on, raising a hand to gently set it on her head.
"Goodbye caro. I'll miss you."
"Me too cara, me too."
Shamal stands there, watching his little sister disappear into the sunset for hours. He knows the whispered words he hears are just his flames reacting to his feelings but it doesn't stop him from whispering an "I love you" into the wind and hoping it'll carry to her ears.
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Ugh I'm so sorry it took so long to update! Thanks for being patient! 3 I know this is much shorter than my usual length and it's a little filler but the timeline will pick up soon! She'll actually start to grow lmao. Action will definitely be increased as well and we haven't even gotten to the good years yet! Canon is still pretty far away.
Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you guys think! Likes, dislikes, the whole nine yards.
H - Your ideas are really great lmao! Some are pretty in line with what I want for Ci's future, especially with the one w/ her thinking everyone that's intuitive is a mind reader. She's a pretty out-there girl and it's a trait that I think will come in handy for her for sure. I didn't want Reborn to be left high and dry re: this most recent interaction between Fon and Ci so I figured Leon would be a good way for him to get that experience. Your reviews are always such a delight to read! So sorry it took so long I really hope you like this chapter!