"Wake up, WAKE UP!"

Lucian groaned and rubbed a hand over his eyes.

"What is this, a new hobby? Get the hell out of here and stop passing out on other people's property!" the man had Lucian in an iron grip and pulled him out of the woodshed. Lucian had no time to recover the feeling in his legs and he was up and then down just as quickly, banging his knees.

Heart beating wildly, Lucian yawned and scrubbed at his face. He got up and then started shuffling down the road, kicking at the wet stones in his path. His clothes were damp and sticking to his skin, making him tremble. His stomach growled hungrily.

The village was alive and awake for a day of backbreaking work. Nothing was interesting to him anymore and he walked without purpose, up and down the entire village for the entire morning. A villager spat at him once, and Lucian laughed and kicked up dirt in his direction, uncaring. He watched with unyielding arrogance and hatred as he saw the many figures in the distance on the logging field. They didn't see him.

Around noon-time, Lucian had no qualms lifting a loaf of bread and a pitcher of milk from an unsuspecting merchant. He had half the load devoured and milk gone by the time the market crowd kicked up a fuss and several people took off after him. Lucian burst into a run, but not before hurling the empty glass at them (which shattered, causing many to scream) and mutilating the bread with his hands and cruelly throwing the crumbs into the sky. He managed to elude them by dodging into a group of trees when he came to them, and then spent much of the afternoon recharging underneath the sun.

All day long Lucian thought of Platina. He reflected upon the fact that his adventure was over after one taste of the real world.

His house was broken and in shambles, as he no longer had the desire to keep up and fuel the illusion his parents had weaved for so long.

Maleah was gone and the soul she once was had been snuffed out the day she was sold into slavery.

The only real guardian and friend Lucian had was long gone and moving away from him with every passing second.

"Platina…" he whispered softly. Suddenly, with the void in his heart acknowledged, the vision of the girl who had recently turned one year older, seemed so pleasurable to him. He traced over every detail of her face that he had studied for so long. His thoughts ventured into a new and exciting territory that left him scarlet in his cheeks but his heart ached longingly with love.

His eyes scanned the clearing sky as he thought of the blue tint to her hair, the inky blackness to her-

Lucian sat up.

Black?

His eyes had roamed down back to the ugliness that emanated from the village.

In the distance, there in the middle of the road stood a very familiar sight.

Lucian's body came alive with hate and he dashed forward to the line of trees, concealing himself and straining his ears to the dialogue being exchanged.

"Just get her away as soon as you can."

Lucian recognized the harshness of the voice.

It was Laia, Platina's mother. A cold sickness swept over him.

"You seem to suggest as if her ability to complete her duties are…inadequate," A slick, calm voice. Lucian tasted bile.

"I'm not suggesting anything!" Laia shrieked again, "I'm just tired of the extra mouth under my roof. My husband hardly makes enough for the two of us, I'm sick of having to share my meals with an unappreciative child who is nothing more than a thorn in my side,"

"Very well then, Miss," the other voice, this time.

"I expect a fair pair, she does come with all the skills and household managing talents that I passed on to her. I will miss her work, but not her stomach,"

"We understand. It will take another day to make the arrangements. We'll call for transportation immediately,"

Lucian spat and slowly inched himself up against the tree trunk he hid behind. His legs were shaken, but he looked forward with a determination that scared him, motivated him.

In that moment, nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but the present was real, and Lucian sighed in exasperation as his body was washed clean of everything that came before the moment of knowing Platina's fate. He couldn't believe how easy it was to let go…but he was numb with delirium because of it.

He would save Platina at nightfall, concealed by the cloak of darkness.