It was like time was at a standstill.
Lapis continued to wander the halls of their spacious house - once a loving home. It was now bare and empty, with not a single trace of his family left, except the drawings on the wall, which would be painted over eventually.
He refused to believe that another family would live here. This was his home, his memories. It was unfair that he had to give it up, it wasn't even his fault. Still, there was nothing he could do about it. Lazuli was still filling every single fancy suitcase and bag she owned with all her clothes, of which there were many. Lapis was more concerned about his toys and how he would take them, so he persuaded Lazuli to let him put some of his belongings in her suitcases and she begrudgingly agreed after Lapis gave her some sweets he bought with his pocket money.
He went into the garden which was his favourite place to be. It was lined with plants that grew many things. He always loved the blackberry bush that was right below his treehouse, or his secret base as he liked to call it. When the fruit was ripe, he would pick them with his sister. They would have competitions to see who could pick the most fruit and the winner usually got the biggest, most delicious first slice of the pies that their mother baked.
Lapis tilted his head up to the treehouse and wondered with a wistful smile, what would happen to his secret base now. It was the perfect hideout, to wait for his sister to come out on scorching summer days so she could have tea parties with her dolls, or even better, her annoying friends. Lapis would have his water gun filled up to the top, and he would snipe them from the treehouse, making the girls scream and run inside, then he would come down, gun still in his hand and he would steal the little cakes laid out.
He giggled, remembering it.
He internally said goodbye to the garden where he had so much fun and to those times he would never have again.
Just as he turned to leave, he heard a noise. It was like a high pitched whine, like a dog when it was sad. He brushed it off, but as he moved to leave, heard it again towards the fence. He let out a huff and crept over, careful not to touch the stinging nettles, recalling the time he had fell into it a few years prior.
Lapis found a small creature, no larger than a tennis ball. It was roundish and fluffy, with stubby legs and a long tail that hung lowly. It growled as Lapis came closer, clearly afraid of the boy. He bent down, lightly petting it on the head. Lapis plucked a blackberry from the bush and gave it to the adorable creature. It happily squeaked like a mouse, making the boy wonder what on earth it was.
A hamster? A really fat mouse? A gerbil?
It appeared to be some kind of rodent, but Lapis had never seen it in the garden before. Upon closer inspection, Lapis saw it had sharp fangs and a long tongue which it used to grab the blackberry and devour it. It limped back over towards the fence.
"Are you hurt, little guy?" Lapis asked, making it whine again in response. He searched around the fence and in the bushes to see if it had any family.
"Do you have a mama?" The boy inquired, and the creature motioned to the gap in the fence, almost as if it understood Lapis.
Peering through the gap, Lapis saw the road and was able to make out something on it. Seeing the long tail and hearing the sad sounds the creature made, Lapis presumed that this squashed thing was its mother, turned into roadkill by a car.
"Aww…it's ok…" He held the creature in his hands and gazed into its watery eyes that made Lapis think it wanted to cry.
"I…lost my mama too." It was as if they could understand each other.
"Lapis!" His sister called him from afar.
He put the tiny animal down and was going to leave it there, but it made a series of squeaks that to him sounded like the animal wanted Lapis to stay, so he put it in the pocket of his blazer jacket. He was still wearing the clothes from the funeral and so was Lazuli, who liked her black dress and refused to get it or her black shoes dirty, (the floor was still damp, after all) so she didn't enter the garden.
"Lapis, will you hurry?!" She yelled again and he came out from the back of the garden. "Look at you, it's midday and you're filthy! What were you doing in the mud?!" He glanced down at his pants where from the knees down, mud was on the front. He had some on his arms too.
"I-" He began, ready to make up some ridiculous lie, something he was rather good at, but Lazuli stopped him, "It doesn't matter! The annoying social worker lady says we have to go now, so get your suitcase and let's go."
He sighed, turning around one last time before grabbing his suitcase and following behind his sister.
Checking his pocket, he could still feel the animal in there. It stayed surprisingly quiet, even as the twins got into the car. They had to put some bags in the front too, since Lazuli had brought so much. The car drove away from the house and Lapis felt like he was going to cry but didn't. He forced his tears back and gazed out of the window.
"We're going to Honey Town Orphanage, ok?" The social worker told them, turning on the radio. The song was a cheery pop tune, but it didn't match the twins' situation at all. The twins didn't say anything in that painfully quiet car drive, they gave only one-word answers to any questions asked.
"Well...at least you won't be living too far from your old home…" The social worker tried to cheer them up.
The twins had lived in Basil Town for all their lives. It was quaint, but Honey Town was smaller and more rural.
"Does this means we have to go to a new school?" Lapis piped up.
"Most likely." The lady answered. "I'm sorry…all these changes must be so hard for you…but there is no orphanage in Basil Town, since it's a richer area…but you'll still be able to see your old friends!"
Lapis didn't have many friends in school. Lazuli was more popular, so she let him hang around with her. Maybe the new start would be good, he thought.
After another period of silence, the social worker asked the two what they wanted to be when they grew up.
"I don't really know…I just hope it's something fun." Lapis responded.
Lazuli had a clear vision, "I want to be a model like my mother was...and I want my own fashion, make-up and perfume range."
"Aww, that's cute!" The woman smiled at them.
Soon, they reached the orphanage. It was a large, decorated building, with the park only down the road. It looked surprisingly welcoming, Lapis had expected it to be a glum place like on TV.
They got out of the car and helped to bring in the suitcases. Before Lapis could even knock, the door opened and a tired middle-aged woman grinned at them, her smile clearly fake as she ignored the loud children fighting in the background.
"Welcome to Honey Town Orphanage!" She ushered them in, then turned around to the other kids, warning them, "If you kids don't shut your traps and play nice, there'll be no dessert! Now come and call the others here to meet our new arrivals!"
As the social worker, who revealed her name to be Almone, chatted to the lady who ran the orphanage, Lapis and Lazuli were introduced to the other kids.
There must have been around 15 others, some children were younger, around their age but there were a few teens too. The twins were reluctant to talk to them at first, they were nothing like the people in school.
"Wow! That's a pwetty dress!" A little girl around the age of 5 complimented Lazuli, who replied, "Thanks…It was for my mother's funeral." She spoke as if it was nothing, but the other kids gave their condolences, some mentioning that they lost their parents too.
It was comforting to have other people who understood. One of the older girls exclaimed, "Hang on, you two are Sapphire Spinel's kids?!"
The twins nodded and the girl mentioned, "I always see her on magazines…I can't believe I didn't recognise you two, you do modelling work too!"
Lazuli smirked, liking the attention. Almone chimed in, "About your modelling work…uh, you won't be able to do that anymore-"
"WHAT?!" Lazuli demanded to know why she couldn't do what she loved, the only thing she had left.
"Your father's company has gone bust…"
Lapis was secretly overjoyed by this. He never liked posing in such stiff suits and expensive outfits. He would always get the clothes dirty, sometimes on purpose so he wouldn't have to wear them. His sister, however, loved the spotlight and kept many of the clothes she modelled in.
"Cheer up…we've already found someone who wants to foster you two!" Almone picked up a file and the other children seemed envious.
"She lives in a place similar to your old home and wanted a boy and a girl around your age!" The woman continued. Lapis and Lazuli looked at each other, their eyebrows raised.
The woman running the orphanage, who Lapis overheard was called Miss Lace acted as if she was sad to see the twins leave so soon and hurriedly showed them to the door. The children appeared to be frightened of Miss Lace, but perhaps that was just the twins' imagination.
Returning the suitcases back to Almone's car and climbing in to the vehicle, Lapis wondered what their new guardian would be like. Almost as if she could read his mind, and she often could, being his twin, Lazuli asked about this woman.
"Her name is Miss Altea, she's quite an elderly woman and rather lonely, that's why she wanted to be a foster parent." She revealed, and suddenly the name rang a bell to Lapis.
"I've heard of her…well her family anyway…but I thought they were all dead?" The boy mentioned, carefully stroking the head of his new friend, which he decided was called Zack, even though he didn't know the creature's gender.
"She's the last one alive…she inherited the entire Altea fortune!"
That news pleased the twins, who were glad to be going to someone who understood the pain of loss and had lots of money to spend on them. Though life seemed horribly depressing now that the light that was their parents and home were gone; ripped away from them…maybe things weren't all that dark after all?
