Chapter 2

Six Months

Has it really been that long? Six long, painful months since the day they escaped that horrible place? Six months that should've cleared their heads from the nightmares? Six months to reflect on how close they both were to dying away in a madman's prison? That long?

It truly was. Luna and Lincoln were dismissed from the hospital shortly after arriving, with the doctors finding little in the way of true injury or poor health. Even with all the scars and burns, they were perfectly fine. Naturally the two couldn't bring up the ways they healed themselves, and before any doctor had the chance to ask how on earth they survived their traumatic experiences, their two newfound guardians rushed them out the door.

Luna remembered sitting in the backseat of a dark vehicle, unable to do anything else but hold Lincoln as tightly as she could. The boy didn't protest, closing his eyes as he nuzzled himself against her. Only one dream came to them after fighting Abraham to the death, and it was enough to chill both to the bone. She barely felt herself breathe as the car brought them off towards their home, with a few soldiers watching them from afar, faces stoic and worn like old-fashioned stone.

Behind the wheel were two individuals Luna was thankful for, but still confused over. Doug and Michelle, two former con-managers that found the goodness in their hearts. They once nearly drove Luna down into the ground over the false pretenses of stardom, but somewhere after their last meeting, things turned rather pleasant for them. Whatever the answer was, the young rocker smiled at the two.

"Doug, Michelle? Thanks," she spoke softly, hoping not to disturb her brother.

The man behind the wheel gave her a look through the rearview window, giving a tiny smile, though his head held far too many dilemmas to commit to any emotion. "You shouldn't be thanking us, Lunes. You know that."

"You saved our lives, brah. Remember that."

Michelle giggled into her hand. "Well, we're just glad you kids are safe!"

Doug sighed. "I hope..."

Luna heard the despair in his voice, but she couldn't find the courage to speak. By the time the words found a home against her tongue, the familiar sight of her house overtook her mind. Her family, all worried sick, practically jumped them as soon as their feet touched grass. To say surviving their assault was worse than surviving a freaking mountain was an understatement.

"Oh my God, do you know how worried we were? I was literally crying all day!"

"Did they beat you up? Tell me where they are! I want a crack at 'em!"

"Sigh. You guys get all the luck..."

Luna and Lincoln did their best to calm their nerves, but as the rowdy group crowded the recently-crowned survivors, the young teen caught a glimpse at her parents speaking with the former twisted managers. Obviously both groups were a little uneasy, but conversation was quickly brought up. Through in Lisa for an unknown reason, and it seemed something was amiss.

But Luna had no time to worry about it. In the end, worry wasn't on her head at the time. She just wanted to be home with her family. Home, and far away from those demons she fought. The memories of those she cherished remained, but deep down, she knew remembering them would continue the night for the rest of her life.

Perhaps she was right. Phone calls to Sam from the city did nothing for her as the days went on. The sky above, once a beautiful blue, began to sag and gray, with the sun seeming more like a desktop lamp over anything else. The buildings appeared lifeless as did the grass below, with the dirt lovingly calling for the young lady to fall down below, burying herself away from a mind that refused to clean itself. She tried to block it off, but it never worked. School, watching tv, even playing her guitar; nothing stopped the monster clinging harshly to her brain.

Abraham and those horrific people he claimed were family, before he too threw them away like garbage. Those poor villagers, Vanessa, Franklin, and all those they slaughtered along the way. Shadows watching over her like old friends messing with her. She saw Kindly's grin in the bathroom, and felt her hand rip-off from Barbaria's claws whenever a note was strummed. Vanessa's cries filled the void whenever the house was empty, and when she finally found solitude against her pillow, she saw that dark glare from the man that nearly ended her life.

And they all said the same thing on repeat: Murderer. She was a murderer. Luan was powerless to stop her tears at night. The best the comedian could do was hold her close, rubbing her back and telling her that it was all over.

But it wasn't. Not by a long shot. Not even a week went by before Doug came to their lives again. "Luna," he proclaimed that early summer day, "You need to follow us. It's... for your own good."

She felt so scared, and when she looked to her family, most looked just as terrified. Only Lisa and her folks didn't react, instead turning the other way. They knew what he wanted. She hated being left in the dark. With a sigh, she put down her acoustic and looked forward. "O-Okay...," was all she could let out.

She trained. Used a gun for real this time, and learned what to do in case of anybody, or anything, tried attacking her again. She hated it, but she understood. Back on the mountain, she only had the memories of playing games with Lincoln to guide her through. Sure, she survived, but it definitely wasn't a clean victory. Doug wanted that changed.

Understandable, but Luna still feared too much in his motivations. He was acting hasty, not even giving her a chance to breathe. By the fourth training seminar, she finally confronted the man. "What gives? Why are we even doing this?" She threw her rifle down in frustration. "I... I don't want to know, man! I don't! I just want that night to go away. Can't you understand?"

Doug did. He folded his arms and shook his head. "Believe me, kiddo, if I had that choice, I'd keep your family out of this forever." He gazed up at the metallic ceiling of the training center. The lights offered no aid. "But I know this is best. You never know when-"

That hesitancy again. She stomped her foot down, silencing the man completely. "What? What the heck are we scared of? Didn't I just beat Abraham?" She sighed, slumping her head. "Unless there's another Abraham, but wouldn't the government have that covered by now?"

What he said following that made Luna wince, and she still winced to this day. Doug turned away, facing the emergency exit door. "Heh... those bastards? Just... be careful, okay? I can tell we aren't cleared yet..."

He was frightened. Luna didn't ask again, fearing her own blood would freeze over. She hated every moment holding those weapons, but she had no choice. She learned it all as fast as she could, wondering what on Earth could be worse than the cult Abraham led. How could it be worse?

Well, if they weren't the reason to panic, then it was the nerves she felt when she returned home, and realized how hurt Lincoln was. With Luna, he was like his old self, smiling and always conniving. Yet, when she left to train, she came back to a family frightened of their own brother. The first time it happened, she thought he did a strange prank, modeling himself after Luan. Only when she marched up to his room did she see his condition.

He was healthy. His mind wasn't. He sat on his bed rocking back-and-forth, and screamed if someone approached. Lola was in tears seeing it,and clung to Rita's leg hard. "He's scaring me! Why won't he talk?" She begged.

Her mother had no answer. She had some doctoring skills, but for the mind? She was lost like the rest. When she saw Luna come up, she quickly hatched a plan. "Luna, dear? Please, please help Lincoln! We can't get him to calm down!"

Lynn shook her head. "Yipe, never seen him so scared! Like, woah!"

Luna nearly dropped dead seeing him. He was pale, with his eyes completely bugged out. It was a new sensation to see him like this, but for Luna, she understood. She approached calmly, and already he swiped at her. "Go away! Just go! I don't want to die!"

It stung, but Luna hung on. She quickly embraced her brother like they were still in the hospital, petting his head as she let out a tear of her own. "Bro, bro! It's okay! It's gonna be okay... trust me..."

She held and rocked him tenderly, allowing his rapid breaths to slow to a crawl, before eventually he hugged her back. The rest sighed in relief as the two at last returned to normal. Lincoln cried against her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Luna. Oh man, I..."

"It's okay, Linky. It's okay..."

From then on, it became extremely common for the two siblings to be by each other's side. Even when school returned, they texted one another frequently, and at home they always hung out, often at the expense of everyone else. They watched those crappy horror movies again, played their instruments wherever possible, and when the family had their outings, they were always grouped up. Of course jealousy formed, but they knew why they acted this way.

Come the fall season, Lincoln and Luna moved in, and now shared the same bed. The night terrors were too much for the two, but together, it felt like nothing. The two survivors of the mountain were weakened, but as a team, no one could beat them. At least, Luna hoped as much.

Soon, fall became the winter, and the season didn't wait to reveal itself. Harsh snowstorm after snowstorm hit Royal Woods, and though it made travel treacherous, it certainly gave the young Louds something fun to do before Christmas. Every day was a snow day, and every day brought a newfound war of frozen proportions.

And naturally, Lincoln and Luna were their own team come the battle. The two got dressed like everyone else and marched their way out to the back. "Heh, think we can take Lynn out? Shr and Lis are getting real strategic!" the white-haired boy sounded spry again. It nearly brought a tear to his sister's eye.

Still, war is war. "They may be good, but they haven't fought a military-trained rocker before!"

The day became filled with snowballs being hurdled to-and-fro, with nearly everyone finding themselves pelted to the core. The cold breeze of winter did nothing to shake their resolves. By the time the sun was ready to depart behind the clouds, it seemed their breaths were all that remained of their energy. Everyone collapsed with a smile; no true victor but childhood bliss.

That was when Lincoln' stomach started to churn. "Yipe, gotta go!" He said, standing up from his makeshift snow angel. He shot them all a quick finger-gun, before giving a smile towards his rocker-inclined sister. "Uh, I'll be fine, Lun-Lun. Be back in a jiff!"

He recently began calling her that. It was once exclusive to Sam, but now even he adopted it. She felt it nice to hear; brought her comfort hearing the happiness behind it. She gave him a wave, before that was interrupted by the rest of her siblings all jumping close to her, worry on their faces. To say she was caught off-guard would be underselling it. "Uh... yo?" She sheepishly asked.

Leni broke the ice. "How is he? He barely talks to us anymore!"

Lana pouted, staring up at the snow building up against the roof. "Man, that'll take forever to scrape off! Uh, but I mean yeah! He just keeps hanging out with you and stuff! I want to hang out with him!"

The jealousy was growing big, but luckily Lori (fresh from a nice stay at college) was there to try and play mediator. "Guys, guys! Calm down! Let's let Luna tell us, okay?" She turned to her younger sister, helping her sit up from her own angel pile. "Luna, how is he? I'm not gonna lie, he's kinda still, y'know, worrying us."

Of course he was. They were both worrying them. It was like they formed a small cult out of the family. Luna sighed, shaking her head. "He's... scared. I'm sorry, brah."

"No, duh!" Lola nearly smacked, but held her fist tight. "How long is he gonna be scared? It's annoying!"

Another sigh from Lori. "Lola, stop! What he and Luna went through is something I can't even begin to describe!"

"So what!" The young girl screamed, before bending her head down, looking rather dejected. "I... just want them normal..."

It hurt to see her like that. Luna quickly brought her mitten up, petting her younger sister on the head. "Hey, hey! We're good, Lols! I'm... sorry we're worrying you like this. I really am." She stood up, wiping the snow off of herself. "I guess we... just need more time, is all."

Luan looked longingly down at the snow below. "Well... how are you doing, sis? I miss you..."

Her roommate missed her? Luna was feeling worse by the second. She walked over and hugged her comedic sibling, trying her best to mend the shaking. "Man, I'm really sorry. I just need to stay by him a little longer, okay? It's... for both of us. Please dig."

"I'll try digging, I guess," she sounded dejected, before grabbing a shovel and started to dig. She wanted to chuckle, but nothing came out.

Luna shook her head. "I feel like I screwed everything up. Dang it..."

She was interrupted by a pat from Leni. "Hey, just get better, okay? You always have us, okay?"

"Yeah, Lenster's right!" Lynn pumped her hands in the air. "You guys shouldn't be suffering alone! You got us, right? We'll always help out!"

Even after hearing the same type of stuff on repeat over the past six months, it always warmed Luna's heart to hear it. She looked at them all sheepishly, before embracing them all. "Thanks, guys. Just remember to help him more, okay?"

"Hey, you're hurt too, remember?" Lori scolded.

The hug should've warmed them all, but above, something new was arriving to interrupt them all. Eyes and ears perked to the cloudy sky above, where the sight of a lone helicopter made itself known. Its wings were spinning violently, blowing snow all about. All the siblings watched as it made its way towards the street, before coming to a calm rest at the front of the house.

Everyone stared in shock. For Luna, she felt nothing but dread take over.

FROM: A local paper translated in English from Italy

"We know of the legends of the Louds, who perhaps held a kingdom over in the Scotland areas. But what of Italy? We have had Romans and many more in our history, but it seems a small chunk exists that is rarely talked about. Only a year ago did we find a piece of metal detailing the name "Savino" in strange coloring, with the image of a centaur emblazoned above. No known origin is known for this, but folklore spoke of a family with pure-white hair that owned parts of the Alps for many a generation. Is this the first clue to their existence? Only time shall tell..."