A sigh left the bluenet as the sweet and soft breeze he missed feeling in it's entirety enveloped him in a familiar embrace. The heat of the warmed sky beat down onto him more than usual , the rays going through his layers of clothing and removing any trace of cold that existed due to previous rough weather. His brightened bronzed eyes looked around at the flowering plants that were yielding to nature in their full measure , decorating the once lonely and cold land with sprouts of colours and life he loved to see.
The scents of pollen and nature's sweetness wafted around , telling him of the advent of the warmer seasons to come , for the true colours of the world to begin breaking through that he would finally be able to witness not just from behind a wall.
His hands touched against the blades of grass he was sitting on , feeling how they tickled his palm under his motion and feeling how much he missed the touch of such since so much time had gone on without him being able bask in the world's beauty. So much time had gone on as the world's depth and life went another phase into the it's cycle of maturing and sadly he could not witness it as it happened.
That being said though,
It felt good being outside again.
Especially after having been stuck in the confines of his room for who knows how long. Simply resting , watching the stone-faced ladies go around and out , being fed and just being helped with whatever else his body felt the urge to do as he was so weak after the doctor's visit.
After he took so many samples of his blood , all that his being desired was just rest as it ached silently in response to that which had been done to it. Barely able to move a muscle and scolded whenever his boredom would want to make him do so. His body felt like something deep in him had been sucked out plentifully by what that doctor did and for some reason to recover from that had taken him what seemed like ages.
And during such motionless time , his only companions were one of the stone-faced ladies who would watch over him nearly around the clock , book in hand and writing things down like the doctor did , otherwise assisting him with what he once could do on his own but had been temporarily helpless at.
And to be honest even though this wasn't much different to that which he had been used to before the change in dynamic , it wasn't something he could say he liked. Not that he wasn't grateful for their help or anything!
But…
He didn't like how weak and incapable the ordeal made him feel. It was bad enough that he had to stay at home in such a sorry state , and on top of that he could barely do anything he would have normally done to keep himself occupied or even contented , like reading his book or watching the scenery.
He couldn't even be strong enough to talk with Hazel when the cat had come underneath his window some nights following the doctor's visit. And he disliked all of this so much.
Not to mention with the amount of time that had passed , what also went by was the festivals that he had been on the lookout for. And with that was undoubtedly the meteor shower too regrettably. To which he knew had gone by with hearing the arriving abundance of worship in Seren's names and feeling that change in the air again that came both with her celebration and the turning of the seasons.
All the whilst he could do nothing but listen to it all happen , inevitably disheartened that he didn't even get the chance to ask before all of this happened , and knowing that it probably would have been futile anyway if he did with how much of his time had been eaten up just through the tedious process of recovery.
He…He was really looking forward to it as well. Avidly trying to get better so he wouldn't miss the thing that his mind would be occupied with incessantly given the incapacitated state he was in.
Just thinking about what wonders would be able to be seen during the Meteor shower , how much buzz there would be about it , witnessing celestial beauty in all it's majesty. All these sorts of thoughts spurned him with determination and desperation to get well soon and stop being such a burden , but sadly his body didn't seem to be as avid in that effort as he wanted.
And just like that his chance was missed.
And it wouldn't be a lie to say that he felt hurt enough that he almost cried when the realisation came to light. Almost cried out of disappointment , but with the eyes that were watching him and his every move , he didn't embarrass himself thankfully or give them a reason to start on his 'irritating' behaviour.
Yet that dark cloud did loom over him for a good amount and possibly even made his recovery even more stagnant than it was proving to be. And with the rougher and wetter weather that also followed with the end of the festival , that also added up as another reason for why his time to be kept in confinement again had lengthened alongside.
So even as his body started to recover more vividly , that alone didn't seem to be the ticket to his escape anymore , not at least until the weather would be more manageable again and the stone faced ladies could trust him to go out without getting sick in the process.
And because of that his disappointment started to intensify to no bounds.
But with all the time that had passed and now the darker feelings he had regarding the matter had settled down , he was able to think about things in a clearer and less affected state. Turning that disappointment he once felt into a new beacon of hope to look forward to as he tried to be positive regarding it all.
Because at the end of the day…
It wasn't like that would be the end of the festivals he could attend was it? Almeta was known for such behaviours so he had no doubt that if it wasn't this time , then next time or some time after that even he would be able to experience the excitement like every other citizen of the land.
As for why he might not have been allowed to attend this time around , maybe the gods didn't think he was serious in his wish as he hadn't been able to give them prayers as much like he did before with him being ill and all. So because of that maybe they thought it wasn't important to him as he didn't tell them as much , so he couldn't really blame them for that could he?
'I'll make sure to let them know next time then!'
He thought to himself in confidence as his eyes looked down at the patch of flowers that were growing forth at the foot of the hill he usually sat at. They were an array of colours ; purple , yellow , pink , blue , but the one which caught his eye the most was red. And all of them simply swayed in the slight wind , almost alike to a soft dance and he observed every motion made.
His own body subconsciously started to move in similar motion with the flowers he observed , rocking back and forth slightly to help quell his restlessness as he thought about all that had happened in that unknown timespan , but tried to look for the good in things.
Such as the fact that at least he didn't need to eat that horrible medicine whilst he was in recovery. Not to mention even with the stone-faced ladies watching over him , they at least gave him nice food that his taste did appreciate eventually after being worn out from the doctor's doings. And they weren't too mean to him so that was a plus!
Also there was the fact that Hazel did try to visit him at points so it's not like the cat forgot about him. Coming to meow beneath his window sill , possibly worried by his absence and that he didn't say anything about it. His heart warmed at the thought of the fact the kitten was this attached to him and he couldn't help but feel quite guilty for leaving it alone with no warning because of what happened.
'I'm sorry Hazel…I didn't know that would happen either…'
He thought to himself as dejection washed over him. Coming to an end with his subtle sways as the flowers came to a still , he tucked his knees into himself more and wrapped his arms around his being as he continued to take a glance beside him every now and then in wait for his fluffy feline friend.
Hazel had yet to arrive , and it wasn't exactly ideal that the cat didn't come at perfect timing when they would meet. Sometimes it would be there on the hill incredibly early , and sometimes it would be later than he would be , but all in all they would meet each other at some point through the day and quell each other's loneliness together.
That being said though , he didn't actually know where Hazel would go when they would depart. He had seen the cat leap through the bushes it once got stuck in and sometimes even walk in the direction of town , but he never followed the kitten to see where exactly it lived.
Or if it lived anywhere at all to be honest.
The thought of the latter made him sad though. As it wasn't exactly nice to think if his friend didn't live anywhere definite. At least he had a place to go to sleep and eat , and do other things when their playtime would be over.
But what if that wasn't the same for Hazel?
Though then again it could have been possible that he could have been thinking about it too much like with everything and Hazel could have been just fine. Maybe the cat already had a place of it's own , or maybe with the time they would spend apart , Hazel would go on adventures given how much he knew the kitten loved to explore places alongside with him.
That sort of thought made him feel better in that regard.
The cat surely could have had an exciting life of it's own , definitely compared to him if he had to admit. But he wasn't going to be jealous or anything as because of Hazel his own life had a new form of excitement too.
It did make him wonder though…
Did Hazel have any cat friends possibly? Or was it a loner like him? Did Hazel have family to go to , or were they alike in that sense too maybe? That Hazel's mother or father might not have been there for Hazel and that's why they liked each other's company so much.
Given all the time that he had to himself to think about his friend , many questions came to him regarding that which he didn't know about the kitten. Questions that didn't really strike as apparent when they would spend time with each other , but having been away for so long he couldn't help but put mind to them.
Though to be honest even though he already believed that there would really be no way of knowing Hazel's background unless he were to follow the kitten , he realised that there was a lot of things he still did not know about the feline which made him both curious and embarrassed as he was behind in something he felt he should have known.
Such as the fact that he didn't know if Hazel was a boy or girl in the first place. And he wasn't going to check either because he didn't know how to look for it , and also it seemed kind of rude to try and do that to his friend. Not to mention it would have been probably embarrassing for Hazel.
Though then again maybe things like boy and girl didn't really exist in cats like it did with humans so there was that thought.
Considering the cat didn't have any defining characteristics like he learned to differentiate with the men and women he would come across.
Actually.
Hazel did have a rounder and cuter face than other cats he had come across in town which were more scrawny and sharp looking. Hazel was also really small , like how women generally were compared to men; he didn't know if that was due to age or if Hazel was a female cat. Then again Hazel had high meows , which was kind of like how he knew women to generally have higher voices , and also these pink dots over her tummy that weren't like her normal dots so because of that maybe Hazel was a girl?
Well it's not like that really mattered as Hazel was his friend at the end of the day. Whether being a he or she , it didn't make any difference to him. It didn't even matter that Hazel wasn't even human as the cat was an affectionate and loving being , and in his eyes that was enough to befriend anyone regardless of differences.
That being said though…
The feline did still have yet to appear. And he was getting rather impatient himself but he knew that he didn't have any right to get angry as he was the one to blame. Both for leaving without warning and also not even being able to let it know he acknowledged it's efforts to try and meet him when he was incapacitated.
Though it's not like Hazel did come every night when he was away , if the cat did that the guilt would have been even worse to bear than it already was. But Hazel did come in the first few following nights until she had been chased away again and he was left wondering where the cat would be at those times now she couldn't be here anymore.
It did worry him a lot though to know that the weather was getting worse and the cat could have been out. Because at least he was inside when the storms were coming and going , but was it the same for Hazel? Did the cat have shelter from the rain or had it gotten sick? It didn't like water much to begin with so with all the rain and winds that had been happening , he imagined that it didn't go down well with the cat.
He hoped it wasn't the latter as the poor thing already had taken time to recover from the initial injury he patched up , getting sick would just be the worse especially when it was so frail. And also he had just recovered himself , so that really didn't seem to be ideal.
'I'll make a prayer for Hazel if that is the case…'
He thought as there was still no sign of the brownish fluff ball running through the grass blades to come to his lap. His bronzed eyes looked around again to the scenery that surrounded him , evidently lush and spotted with colour yet the lack of life and movement he desired made it feel empty. Not to mention he could feel the winds getting a little more demanding , making him pull his cloaked hood tighter around him to abate any unwanted chills as a dreadful thought started to paint his mind.
Because what if…
Hazel wasn't sick but was avoiding him because of what he did? Or worse than that…What if Hazel didn't want to be his friend anymore because he left the cat alone for so long and disliked him because of it? Or possibly even…hated him?
Even the thought of that was enough to turn the sun warmed skin of his to a bitter cold as his large eyes became horridly still from the possibility of such a thing. A lump had formed in his throat without even knowing before he shook his head of those negative muses and instilled his faith into his friend's compassion.
'You wouldn't hate me , we're such good friends. If anything I'll say I'm sorry when we meet again and that will make everything okay between us if I made you angry.'
'I'll even give all my food if that's the case as I know how much you like it!'
His stomach rumbled with that thought , having been neglected from filling itself with that which had been provided as the bluenet wanted to wait for his feline friend to come and eat with him before taking a bite of his own.
He didn't want to think about something so negative regarding his friend so as he waited for his furry 4 legged companion , his thoughts turned elsewhere in regards to something else that had been niggling at the back of his mind from the visit of that doctor that never really left his attention.
'What was it that they were talking about?'
Even in a clearer and less weighted state of mind , he could make sense of that which he could only recall being spoken about. And that only being barely. A lot of the words had been lost in his addled mind at that time , words that could have helped the confusion he felt but he either couldn't remember or didn't know the meaning of as it all was going so fast before he could process.
One thing he did take note of though was how important this thing was that they had been discussing about. Not just because of the tones and brooding behaviour that seemed to be regarded on the matter , but because of the words he distinctly recalled being used and that he knew held some form of importance from hearing it being referred to before.
Bloodline.
That word had propped up again , first with the stone faced ladies and now even with the doctor who couldn't say his name properly. This word seemed to hold a lot of significance in general and now somehow in regards to him with what he could tell it denoted.
But he couldn't understand why.
What was so important about a bloodline that these people were so interested in? Also how did it relate to him in this matter? Did it possibly relate then also with what the doctor had been doing to him too then?
He chewed the inside of his cheek in deep thought , trying to recall what had been said in that damned conversation he had been half aware of as his eyes widened slowly in recollection of another important detail that was dropped and he knew of great significance around.
His father.
He explicitly was mentioned in that conversation the doctor was having and from that he assumed he had to do something with the bloodline thing too. But then again how did he exactly link up in all of this and with him alongside?
As the bluenet tried to conceive the connection , a bitter taste started to form in his mouth from thinking about that man. Even somehow not being present in his life at all yet somehow everything found a way to revolve around him.
From the appearance he held , to the way he and his mother had been treated due to none other than his heinous sins to now even whatever this doctor had in plans for him that he still had no clue about.
Everything that he would have thought to have no connection to the devil yet somehow his mention would taint it , to which he was honestly getting sick of hearing about him. All because of him his life had been turned into such misery , and now that it was finally starting to look good , he somehow found a way to worm in and make himself present even though he wasn't even there in the first place!
A sharp breath left his lips as he clutched onto the fabric of his cloak tighter without realising , his hands being seized with unsaid emotions as his eyes glazed over with a similar brew that had tried to take over not too long before.
That despicable devil…
When was he ever going to be free of his influ-
"!"
'Is that you Hazel?'
The young child's brooding thoughts left him with the vivid sound of rustling that made his ears prick up. Immediately his sight switched away from the transfixed state that it had been in through his mental ramblings as he hoped to see his friend Hazel running through and coming to pounce on him.
But what he came to witness was not his feline friend…
But something wholly unexpected.
"AAAHHHHHH!"
Or really someone wholly unexpected.
An unknown voice pierced sharply through the serenity that was known to accompany him. Shock covered his features that had been momentarily possessed by something else as his eyes pinpointed the direction of disturbance to find that there was someone who had fallen not too far from him from near the slope that went down from his home.
'What the…'
His eyes didn't know if to believe what he was seeing at that moment. After being alone for so long and having near no human presence around him , there was someone here right in front of him. Sprawled out on the grass from the nasty fall that they had suffered and from what he could see they didn't look much different to his age either.
'It's a kid…'
'It's…An actual kid!'
Were his eyes deceiving him? Was he for the first time actually seeing another person around his age finally after all this time? After all these months there was another soul finally accompanying him?
This was nearly incredulous to him.
However as that potent shock came over him and his brain started to process that what he had seen and heard was definitely not a figment of his imagination , another desire of his that was deep rooted panged inside him in remembrance as the words he told the gods that night resonated with him in this moment.
There was someone here that was around his age. And not only that , they needed help and he could do that! And through such a thing he would be the good person he always idolised to be like and hopefully with what help he could give , he'd have another friend alongside Hazel!
Was this his other wish finally being allowed to be answered?!
Right here?
Right now?
Though before he could get whisked away in that euphoric possibility , his senses focused in on the poor child again and made what should have been his priority now his forethought.
'I need to help them!'
Driven by excitement and adrenaline , the bluenet scrambled at his feet , feeling blood rush seize him without warning but he pushed through it to quickly dash to where the poor child had fallen in hopes to be of some help.
His legs carried him fast and he wasted no time in arriving , barely needing to catch a breath as he went partially up the slope to meet the child , both his nerves and anticipation making his heart drum against his chest hard as he put a hand gently out in the way of the child.
"Here!"
He exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm , panting as he keeled over to catch what had been used up of his breath as his eyes looked over the form of the fallen soul who seemed to still be struggling.
His head spinning a little from both how his senses were all over the place and how much his head was rushing with animation from the fact that there was definitely another person here like him that he could try to make a companionship with and he wouldn't be as lonely anymore.
And maybe Hazel would have another friend too!
Though those sorts of thoughts and similar of the kind continued to settle in his innocent mind , his fixation on the soul in front of him intensified as he looked down at the details of the fallen figure , who had plunged what looks like face down onto the grass and her limbs being spread out to decrease impact.
And from what he could see now , the child was a girl , with longish golden hair that had sprawled out everywhere and had covered her face to which he was genuinely concerned about if had gotten hurt alongside in the fall from what the impact looked to be.
He bit his lip in anticipation as he looked around to deduce how exactly the girl had fallen in such a way because it did sound painful from what he heard. His gaze wandered over to the top of the slope , wondering if she took a misstep and tumbled down that way , or had been caught in some of the plants growing out and had tripped on one of them.
Though as he was ruminating over possibilities , he noticed that the girl still hadn't made an effort to move much , which in his mind was incredibly strange as the fall shouldn't have been that bad should it? She hadn't fallen the entire length of the hill so he didn't think it would amount to much , but maybe he was being a bit judgmental in regards to what someone else's tolerance would be.
"Hey…"
He started , bending down more to the girl's level as he neared her , his breath having caught up to him as he looked for any serious signs of injury over her body just in case. His extended hand tried to go and touch her body and help her up but then he finally did see movement.
Her head having finally tilted upwards to look in his direction , a bit sullied by grass and mud as her large blue eyes looked up the shadows that concealed the face of who wished to be her saviour.
His gaze met her's from above , feeling the connection as the golden haired girl seemed to hold his visage. A warm smile started to line his lips to convey the essence in compassion , to tell that there was nothing to fear for her as he wasn't going to hurt her or anything.
He was there to help!
But instead of making the girl more relaxed and trusting , what he felt was her gaze at him was starting to become strangely rigid , fearsome even , which was acknowledged by his senses but not for why that was the case.
"Are you oka-"
As he was in the midst of asking in a firm and tender tone , another scream ripped out from the girl's lungs , somehow louder and full of terror compared to before. The sound made him pause in his actions as the sharpness of it all took him off guard and had him horridly confused.
'She's screaming?'
'Why?'
'Is…Is she that hurt?!'
His features pulsed with avid bewilderment before he shook it away in belief that this girl's well-being was not something for him to be questioning when it was clear there was something wrong. Visible or not to him that reaction wouldn't have happened for simply nothing.
"H-Hey…"
Which he was indeed right about.
"W-What's wrong?"
Though as he tried to near her in effort to help the girl up gently , he found that his extending touch was absolutely evaded. Denied any contact as the girl started to scramble away from him in a blink of an eye , vivid terror stuck to her face , trying to make as much distance between her and him as possible.
And with the words she spat at him next , it became clear there was something wrong with this.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"H-Huh?"
And right then and there he heard exactly what.
"DEVIL!"
The girl screamed with tears running down her muddied face which completely took the bluenet off guard as hearing that accursed word shook him to the core , unable to process why it was being said as the look of fear morphing into disgust from that girl's face burned into his mind brightly.
"D-Devil…?"
He could simply utter in absolute confusion , small features crumpling onto themselves as he did so , not knowing who it was being said to or why , but with the look of horror that was trained on him so intensely , his reluctant mind was beginning to logic the connection of it all as all hell started to befall on him.
'Why did she-'
In the midst of the chaos , he felt the covering over his head being yanked off by an unknown force. A gasp left his lips in a moment as he felt some of his hair being grabbed back in the motion , feeling parts of his hair being tugged fiercely from the scalp before the thick fabric around his face fell away completely as his appearance was bare for all to see.
"Owwww…."
He mumbled as his hand went back to soothe the irritation at the back of his head , however as he looked up whilst he recovered from the initial pain , a new look of bewilderment crossed him as his bronzed orbs slowly came to a still.
And…
He saw a number of eyes he didn't recognise staring at him.
'What's going on?'
The bluenet could just about think to himself as the air around suddenly felt so disgustingly thick. Silence once again returned to the scene , with the whole world seeming to pause in the moment however it was all but comforting with what gazes that pinned on him.
With identical looks of shock morphing into disgust right in front of him , feeling their intensifying focus burn into the right side of his face as his nerves had him frozen on the spot. His eyes being wide and frantic looked around at all these kids surrounding him he didn't know as a strange feeling started to sit into his core.
And it only started to churn worse inside with what he heard.
"He's not just fucking ugly then…"
"He's despicable too."
One of the bigger kids in front of him spat , literally feeling residue of their saliva that came out with those words connected with his cold and still face as his chest was becoming horrifically tight. All the whilst his mind rushed all over the place in order to try and get a grasp of what the hell was actually happening.
'Who are these people?'
'Where did they come from?'
His gaze looked around , collecting the feeling of darkness and disgust with each glance that he had no choice but to take in , feeling such a potency of emotion being directed towards him like no other as their eyes only continued to harden with the more they looked at his face.
'Why are they looking at me like that?'
Eyes that were of all different tones yet they all seemed to hold the same reaction connecting them in mind. Looking at him as if they had seen something so utterly unworldly or abnormal to them and he couldn't do anything to even understand why this was the case.
He witnessed an array of emotions go across them. But none that he could name as pleasant. All frozen in a state of time as the trained sight on the right side of his face and just him in general seemed to have some reason caused all these kids to become speechless.
And not in a good way.
His startled gaze fell to the golden haired girl that was now hiding behind the leg of one of the older kids , her face seemed to avoid any look from him as if she had seen some sort of hideous monster of some sort. The action truly stunned him as he couldn't comprehend what he had done to try and mandate such a questionable response.
Didn't she understand he was trying to help her?
Why was she trying to hide away from him like he was some sort of disgusting creature?
"I-I was j-just trying to h-help-"
He began with what little articulation he had left in him. Lips vacillated pathetically as he could just about mumble out the truth since he was so bewildered and panicked by what was happening and he couldn't begin to process why.
The looks that they all had on him and what they were saying…
He really didn't like it and he didn't understand why they were doing such a thing in the first place. Though of course with what came with his poor 'excuse' of a justification , presented his innocent ears with another round of foul venom that was directed at him alone.
"Don't try and bullshit us you filthy devil."
Another one of the older looking kids sneered , watching the azure haired boy's eyes glaze over in weakness as he became even more incapable of expressing himself in the midst of the daggers that glared at him.
Why were they calling him a devil? He…He was anything but that! He always tried to be so kind and loving. He always tried to be a good boy so no one would have a problem with him. He never wanted to cause anyone pain and never wished it upon anyone either.
So then why?
Why were they naming him something he wasn't?
"B-But…"
"I-I'm n-not a d-dev-"
He choked out of his closing throat , the mere insinuation of such tore into his heart like nothing he thought to witness and had his weaknesses nearly pouring out of him in visible measure as tears threatened to leak from his hazed vision but did nothing to obscure the hatred probing him as more ridicule was thrown his way.
"HAH!"
The exaggerated laugh hit him as sharply as the initial scream , seizing him on the spot as his being visibly trembled from anxiety. Wetness soon started to overflow his stinging vision and cover his cold face as his sight just didn't dare look away , almost as if there was a threat if he were to.
And whatever nerves were controlling him only spurned on themselves worse with that which he heard come next.
"Look at that thing on your face and try to tell us that shit again."
One of them said with avid contempt for the bluenet who simply stood there in utter horror , still unable to understand anything as most of it just came to him as noise for his horribly addled brain.
'There's…something wrong with my face?'
"Does anyone have that shit on them?"
An older guy amongst them pointed directly to where the bluenet's tattoo resided , revulsion fuelling his expression and all of the others as he did so , whilst his bronze eyes simply followed the direction of where the finger followed and felt his heart pounding horrifically as a response.
They were talking about his mark…Where his finger directed it was exactly where he felt all those eyes staring at him the most and their gaze simply intensified with that older guy's influence as the question was left in the air for none other than him to answer as tension grew suffocating and thick.
"...N-No…"
He finally admitted , well aware that this was something unique to him and his mother. but he thought that was because to show that they were mother and son. As they didn't look all that similar but this could be used to show their connection.
But with how all of these kids were reacting to it…was it meant to mean something else?
"B-But-"
He barely had time to think anything about it as with his hushed answer came another that proclaimed dominance in the argument.
"Exactly."
Leaving a chill down his spine with the harshness that came next.
"So get the fuck away from us."
One of the elder kids hissed dangerously , causing the young bluenet to freeze up even more than he already did and a grimace to take over his body as the kids started to back away from him in unison , as if he was some sort of ferocious animal that was out to hunt them yet in this instance they were the ones who were harming him.
"No one wants to be around something like you!"
Another one of them cried with notable hysteria , passionately proclaiming so as compared to the sheer venom which was just used to speak to him. And all the young child could do was stand still as the bitter cold burned against his wet cheeks and he made no attempt to hide back his emotional pain with all that was beginning to overflow.
All the whilst his thoughts started to centre in on that which he could barely grasp being said to him as his head still was in the midst of spinning from panic.
'Some...thing?'
'Why are they saying that?'
'Why are they speaking to me like…I'm not a human?'
His heart felt incredibly heavy , only getting weighing more with each look of repulsion his vision absorbed through it's pitiful haze as his lips continued to tremble with unsaid questions struggling to burst out as he felt the tightness in his chest becoming nearly crushing with how the situation dragged on.
Sparse breaths barely left his lips as he could see them all continuing to move back from him with darkness shadowing their faces , unable to understand why that look even existed on them in the first place and towards him of all people.
His nerves were beginning to act up , without even realising his legs had barely started to move forward , only questions rambling through his horribly addled and broken mind as bronzed eyes watched them pitifully as the only words he could muster softly left his quivering lips.
"W-Why?"
Barely able to be heard , with only the stillness of the wind to carry his voice to them , yet with the rigidness that took over he knew he was heard.
And he got some form of answer.
But not in a way he was prepared for.
"Cursed son of a bitch!"
Before he could even begin to process what those words were meant to mean , one of the older kids came dashing towards him in a speed he wasn't expecting and brutally pushed the young boy down the spanse of the hill , being completely sick of the pathetic and disgusting sight of the blue haired repulsion and wanting to get rid of him from their visage.
"!"
A choked scream left him as the effort was so strong , the push against his frail chest was held so much force , it practically made him airborne for a split second before gravity pulled him back down and he tumbled before he crashed brutally on his back, sprawled out in pain and breathlessness as his muscles ached terribly both from the impact of the hit and from the remnant aches of his recovery period.
"Bad enough he went and infected our playing ground with his presence in the first place."
"Good you did that to him."
One of the kids accompanying them mused as they looked at the sight of the tattooed child who had fallen the entire spanse of the slope. A inward laugh came from witnessing the boy's struggle as they all revelled in the cursed bastard's pain and misery like he was ordained to suffer.
All the whilst tears never stopped falling down his face , the breaths he could just manage burned his throat , from the pain that swelled inside his heart and in his body as his fingers weakly tried to grasp the blades of grass around him for support , using his grip on such to help pull his aching body up.
But as he was barely managing to do so , even more virulent words and speech was used towards him.
"He's so fucking ugly!"
Their voices coming off louder than they did before as they were intent in making sure he heard every bit of their derisive comments.
"Disgusting devil!"
So that they truly made whatever spirit he had deceiving him break.
"Don't ever come near us, you cursed piece of shit!"
And that he knew his true standing in the world compared to what he could have fooled himself with through pitiful wishful thinking and utter patheticness.
"Go back to the dirt where scum like you belong."
"Hellspawn."
Those were the last words that were spat towards him before he heard the sound of their footsteps receding and leaving his proximity completely. With his glazed sight overflowing non stop , dampening his cold skin and the earth beneath him , the young child simply cried to himself.
Cried with whatever his throbbing body could muster. Feeling each breath he could manage to choke him in response , each movement of his muscles pang in agony , and his body shook with the cries that wracked him as the still wind did nothing to comfort his misery and froze him in it even more.
The only thing that was proof of the world not being stuck in this cruel moment in time was the sound of the stream he could hear running not too far from him. Gently crashing against the rocks which lined the side of the riverbed and it's pure white foamed water running freely as testimony to the only witness of that which occurred.
And with that an urge struck Jellal thoroughly.
Scrambling up on his feet , not giving any care to the pain that rushed through him or that threatened to bite at him deeply as the pain in his heart was far greater than that. The young child desperately struggled his way to the flowing stream with his vision as blurred as ever , the sound of the running water only being his guide as his blood pulsed with only one desire to accomplish against the odds.
'Is it gone yet?'
He thought to himself as he took another distressing splash of water and threw it against the right side of his face. Feeling the cold water soak him again as it had been doing so thoroughly through his incessant efforts but he didn't care. He used his hand and part of his moistened cloth to scrub into his skin , having gotten rougher and less patient with each round of washing he attempted to remove this horrid stain from the right side of his face before he looked down at his distorted reflection in hope that he would find that the red mark would be no more.
'Has it…?'
Sadly that wasn't the case.
'Why doesn't this thing go away?!'
He grit his teeth in a bout of frustration as his motions became even more aggressive. Hastily splashing the water over his face , not giving a damn about the wet residue that soaked him and his clothes entirely as he commenced yet again to try and remove this thing off his face once and for all.
"Hck…"
A hiss left his lips with how fast and deeply he had been scrubbing , the cloth having become more or less of an obstruction in his goal so he discarded it entirely and started to rub at the irritated spanse of skin with his raw hands , even going as far to use his nails in the process and try and scratch the damn thing away.
But he found that by doing that method , not only was it futile , but his skin was suffering as a result of it. Becoming blotchy and red , horridly irritating and burning with every touch he gave it , and breaking forth leaking blood that did nothing but stain his face even more.
And deepen the colour of that stupid thing alongside.
"What the…"
His sight turned to the water returning to it's undisturbed state , trying to gage what result his efforts had brought forth in regards to removing this thing. But as his blurred vision cleared up enough from the residue of his tears and water , what reflection he saw staring back at him wasn't anything that looked promising.
"It looks darker now-"
'I'm not trying hard enough!'
Horrified by this finding , Jellal became more avid in his attempts to get rid of the abnormal mark on his face , viciously splashing over himself and using what he could to get rid of even the smallest trace of it. Scrubbing so painfully and frantically that the pain that wracked his being was simply being forgotten through his raging thoughts and panic , but that was only going to work for so long as he could feel his throbbing agony catching up to him.
'It hurts!'
'It hurts!'
Breaking past more of his skin through his vigorous rubbing , a new round of pain seized him as the flesh on the right side of his face had become horrifically sensitive through his efforts and he could feel blood seeping out more thickly. Looking over at the calming water again , he looked to see if he had finally been able to remove that thing given the pain he could feel piercing through now.
As that should have been a sign that something changed right?
Taking a moment to catch what he had been exhausted of his breath , he looked back down at his awaiting reflection , bronzed eyes anticipating for when his distorted image would clear up enough to see if he had been successful or at least partially. But given the dark tones he could see present in the water that resembled the shape of that unusual mark.
He knew nothing had changed.
In fact he made it worse.
A lot worse.
His skin was wholly flushed with redness that wasn't going away and stuck out in contrast to the bits of his pale and creamy skin tone underneath. Blood having started to come forth from segments of his affected skin did nothing but make the dark tones of the tattoo contrast on him more , and with the crimson that was seeping forth and dripping down his face , it looked like the damn thing was melting into his face or something.
Truly an image of horror.
'It's still not gone…'
"What the hell do I need to do to get this thing to go?!"
Frustration started to pour out of him as he used that minimal break to revive his energy from constantly repeating the same motions and heightening the vigour whilst doing so again to commence the cycle in hopes of getting rid of this thing.
Splash
Because it was this thing that made the girl look at him like that. It was this thing that made all of them look at him like that.
He was sure of it.
Splash
Not just because of them pointing it out to him , but that look they had plastered over their faces and burning into the side of his face that currently was in the midst of feeling like hell just as he commenced.
Splash
This thing…Which they singled out entirely and called him ugly because of it. Though that was not the first time that he had heard those words about the mark , with what other venomous insults came alongside were completely new to him.
"Damn it!"
As they didn't seem to just see the mark as just an ugly thing , but as if it had some sort of horrid meaning behind it. A meaning that he didn't know , a meaning that seemed to scare them and he didn't know why?
What was it meant to be?
"ARGH!"
With the extent of his effort finally catching up to him , with what he could just about endure with the burning sensation he created with the cloth on his inflamed and bleeding skin , he pulled the fabric away , the pain having got too much to bear both on his face and his limbs , as his vision was impacted through his excessive rubbing.
His right eye having closed on itself languidly to try and soothe the searing he felt of his skin both away and around the more delicate flesh , he took a moment to look at the water again , deeply wishing that all this pain he just put himself wouldn't have amounted to nothing.
But that was sadly the brutal truth.
As his reflection started to emerge from the disturbance he had violently created in the flowing water , the sight that he saw staring back at him caused the boy to weep to himself. Not just out of the agony that was fully starting to become apparent , but because it was obvious now this thing wasn't just going to go like that.
Salty tears lined his wet vision , which fell from his right eye making the burn on his skin feel worse as he looked at the sight of himself in utter dejection. His skin having been somewhat broken into through the intruding of his nails and his vicious actions. The flesh around his face had become horrifically inflamed , taking on a striking pinkish red that was enhanced by leaking blood.
And then the mark that stuck there.
Present as ever.
Contrasting darkly against his pale and flushed skin. Darkening with his dripping blood as if in defiance to his intentions and almost burning deeper into his complexion as if any attempt to get rid of it was practically undone or even mocked.
He looked at that sight with pain , feeling the cold wind brush against his raw skin and sear him unpleasantly as parts of the hair framing his face stuck to his skin from how waterlogged they had become alongside everything else in the midst of his panic.
A heaviness had formed in his throat as his vision burned looking at the sight of him with tears that overflowed and couldn't help but question. That the boy that those kids had seen , he didn't look as disgusting as the one he looked at now. Yet they treated him like he was something worse.
Something horrific.
Something forbidden.
He could have said that maybe about the state he was in now , but then…He didn't know. All this time he thought he was going to be a normal boy finally , he was going to be a normal kid…but they didn't even see him like that.
And it was all because of this thing that was on his face right there.
Something he didn't even know about.
Something he had assumed to be naturally there.
But now he knew that wasn't the case.
'What is this meant to be?'
A drop of water from the sky fell into the stream he was looking on into as a gust of wind blew across him. Signalling the weather turning for the worse as more rain started to fall forth and envelope the lonesome bluenet in the coming seasonal storm. Something that he failed to acknowledge or even care about as he continued to stare blankly at the rippling distorting reflection of the boy he thought he knew.
Wondering to himself…
What did they see in him…
That he doesn't?
What did they know…
Which he didn't?
Author's Note:
Oh God this chapter hurt me to write T_T...We're going to get into the darker and more distressing things and well...It's going to get painful from here on out.
Innocence will truly become a thing of the past soon.