A child's heart was something precious. Something pure and beautiful that should never be tainted or soiled. Eventually it would, with the harbingers of time and the process of growing up. Until then however, an adolescent's heart would remain perfect and untouched.
Though there are moments when a child's heart gets prematurely captured, ensnared in the tangled mess that is Cupid's web. Sometimes the poor love god just couldn't help himself and just had to shoot out his arrows a little too early.
Cherryblod realized this situation early on. At the age of seven, Lucas was beginning to learn about the basics of love. Love meant you were happy with a significant other. Love meant kisses and hugs that weren't just meant for family. Love meant forever sleepovers. At least that was the boy's definition of it.
Lucas was quick to gain his first childhood crush. And though he thought he was hiding it, it was very clear to the target of his affection. Cherryblod found it cute at first, becoming nostalgic when he remembered Lobco's first hints at a crush on a boy at school. But over some time, he grew a bit worrisome. He worried his well-meant intentions may have been unintentionally aiding to Lucas' affliction with him. It began subtlety, with Lucas keeping just a bit closer to him than normal and occasionally grasping his hand.
Then the gifts had begun. Slowly, Lucas began bringing him small art projects from school, and then (and how this went over his antennae the shrimp will never know) on Valentine's Lucas had brought him a bright red paper heart with glitter glue and star stickers.
Sometime after that, Cherryblod began to suspect. He was proven right when he asked Lucas if he liked anyone from school. The boy shook his head with a neutral expression. It was only when he inquired about liking anyone did the boy's cheeks turn pink and he ducked his head down in childlike embarrassment. He questioned further and found everything he needed. They were someone he knew, they were older than him- "How much older?"
"...old." - and they were someone Lucas saw very often. Most would assume it was one of Wadanohara's familiars. But he had seen how the boy acted around them, indifferent towards them but aware that they were important to his Uncle and Aunt. It was when Lucas saw him did his expression change. He would straighten, smile, and scamper over to him. One time he had even given him a hug before pulling back quickly and muttering an apology.
However way Cherryblod looked at it, there was no way around the fact that he had accidentally stolen the little shark's heart and he had no way of giving it back without hurting him. Especially now, with the shark holding his hand as they walked the semi busy streets of the Sea of Stars. He had decided to take Lucas out since there was nothing else to do, and he was sure Wadanohara would not mind.
The Blue Sea had a small shopping centre that housed few shops. He knew there was a candy store though, and he knew Lucas would enjoy that. As they walked, he noticed the shark would squeeze his hand every so often, picking up his pace to match with the shrimp's relaxed strides. How he wished he had the courage to acknowledge the problem and fix it.
"So what flavor is your favorite, Lucas?" Cherryblod asked once they entered the small store. It self like caramel and sugar as well as all the different flavoring put into the candy. Lucas was awestruck at the place, eyes wide and taking in the brightly colored, pinstriped walls covered in containers of sweets. He quickly snapped to himself when Cherryblod moved along the walls, reading the labels and humming ver his choices.
Was he feeling sour worms today?
"Cherry."
He instinctively looked down at the sound of his name, meeting the child's gaze and watching him quickly duck away with a dusting of pink of his usually pale face. The man made a questioning hum in his throat.
The next three words out of Lucas' mouth had Cherryblod freezing in place.
"I...I like..cherry."
Had that been a confession or just an answer to his question? It would have been ironic that he boy's favorite flavor would be his name.
Oh, that put an image in his head. He quickly shook away that disturbing thought, mentally scolding himself for wandering that far into the gutter while with Lucas. He smiled down at the child and chuckled gently.
"They have cherry candy right over there." He opened up the container, plucked a few pieces of candy and handed one to Lucas to try. It was a sort of gummy candy rolled around in sugar and he popped the other piece in his mouth while watching Lucas. The boy was happily chewing the sweet treat, eyes brightening and he hummed with a smile.
"You like it?" Cherryblod laughed as Lucas nodded eagerly, even bouncing in place with a grin. Cherryblod dropped a few pieces of the cherry candy into a bag, walking to the counter and paying after it was weighed. They walked around for a about and hour before residing on a bench located near a park.
Lucas had asked and then ran off to the park after getting the permission granted by the shrimp. Cherryblod laughed quietly as he watched Lucas play with the other children, stealing one of the candies from the bag as he did.
Maybe he would let Lucas live this fantasy for a little while longer. He was a child still, and children had attention spans of the Sea's resident goldfish. He would eventually lose interest in the shrimp and move on. Lobco did and so would Lucas.
Yes, a child's heart was something beautiful and pure. And Cherryblod decided it would remain like that for as long as possible.
Lucas was nine years old when he met curious grey eyes, short black hair with silver strands made to look like ovals, and a black trimmed hand tail tucked behind him shyly. The other boy was rocking back and forth on his heels, flicking his eyes between the ground and the shark in across the way. Lucas had never seen him before, and likewise was said for the orca. Tatsumiya had said that Lucas would have company the next time he came for lessons however he wasn't sure what to expect.
The shark gripped Wadanohara's skirt tighter, inching behind her more and more while the afore mentioned oar fish knelt down beside the orca child and smiled.
"Lucas, this is Isaac. Isaac, Lucas." The two boys stared at each other some more with Wadanohara nudging Lucas forward and out from behind her.
"Go on," She gave the shark a gentle pat and smile. "Say hello." Lucas glanced up at his aunt and then back to the other boy again. Isaac was nervously twisting his hands in his sweater, refusing to make eye contact with the other as he tried to inch backwards towards Tatsumiya.
"Hi, Isaac."
At the sound of his name, the orca boy looked up and then back down, picking at his fingers before mumbling his reply.
"Hi, Lucas."
Tatsumiya gave Isaac's shoulders a squeeze as she stood up. "Wadanohara and I are going to be in the next room discussing some business, you two get to know each other alright? We won't take long." She gave the orca a hug and even a kiss on the cheek before standing and leaving, Wadanohara doing the same to Lucas. Then witch and oar fish disappeared through the sliding door, leaving the two boys alone with an assortment of activities to do.
Neither of them moved however to do any of those activities.
Isaac was still rocking back on forth on his feet before he looked up at Lucas and asked in a timid voice, "D'you wanna play candyland?"
The first game proved just as tense and awkward as their meeting, the games following however, would make it appear as if the boys had known each other since birth. As it turned out, Isaac was five months younger than Lucas and he lived with his father at the moment somewhere just off a place called Iceberg Isle.
"Do you live with your dad?" Isaac asked after he moved to his second green space. Lucas was taught to always answer truthfully but for a moment he considered lying. Why? Because he didn't actually want to answer him truthfully. Especially on this subject. But his Uncle would get mad and he didn't want that.
"No. My dad isn't here."
Isaac looked at him and tilted his head. "Where is he then?"
Lucas picked up a card and found Candy Cane Forest. "I dunno. Not here."
"Why?"
Just before Lucas put his character down, he froze at the single syllable. He had asked that himself multiple times and he never once got a clear answer so he stopped asking. He set down his piece with a little force before answering. "Because. He's just not here."
Isaac frowned a little but dropped the subject all together, not wanting to upset the shark in fear he may hit him. His father said that he could easily handle any shark or fish if he tried, but he didn't feel like trying. He didn't like unnecessary bullying.
Without the touchy subject of fathers in the way, the two hit it off quite well and had moved on from Candyland to Snakes and Ladders. Time passed as they laughed and talked and shared stories with each other that they never realized what time it was until the large clock began chiming. They both counted the bongs together and blinked when after nine, it stopped. It was only then did Tatsumiya and Wadanohara emerge from the room, both equally shocked at hour of night it was. They had not even gotten through half of their pile of work.
There was still too much to discuss on whether or not security along the barrier should be increased or not.
"Oh dear, is it that late already?" The oar fish looked to the clock and assured her fears. "I'll send for Samekichi and Isaac's father, you two should start getting your things together."
Two moans of disappointment erupted from them but they did as they were told and cleaned up the games. They did however play a game of go-fish while waiting.
"Isaac, what have I told you about playing with your food?" Both looked up at the new voice and Lucas blinked. The man that walked into the room was tall, and he looked an awful lot like Isaac. Whatever he had in his mouth was smoking and it did not smell good at all. The man strolled in and plucked the orca off the ground, smiling down at Lucas in a way that was not so nice. "Whaddya say sport, shark fin soup for dinner?"
Lucas was still confused but now he was beginning to get scared before another pair of hands picked him off the ground and he was held up against a familiar body and clung instantly. "No one is having any shark soup, Idate."
Samekichi narrowed his one remaining eye at the orca as he laughed. He took a long drag of his cigarette and chuckled as he let it out.
"Oh come on, I was kidding! Tatsu doesn't like shark fin anyway. Besides, I'd never lay a finger on your kid~"
"Nephew."
"Come again?"
Samekichi grumbled before situation Lucas in his hold (the kid was getting too big to be picked up by screw it). "Lucas is my nephew. Not my son."
Idate blinked slowly before that smirk was back and he shrugged. "Whatever you say, Shark. He doesn't have be direct blood to be your kid." He stubbed out his cigarette and blew out the smoke before looking at Isaac. "C'mon kid, your moms stayin' late and you got school." He turned on his heel and started for the exit. Isaac looked over his dad shoulder to Lucas and found the shark looking back as Samekichi turned.
"Bye, Lucas," He called, causing both men to freeze.
"Bye, Isaac," The shark returned as he waved.
Samekichi looked down at Lucas with his brows furrowed. "What did you-" Before he could even get the words out, Idate had sidled up against him, thrown and arm around his shoulders and laughed loudly.
"Well," He drawled as he grinned st the shorter man. "Looks like you and I are gonna see each other a lot more often."
Samekichi mentally shuddered at the idea.
Samekichi trudged up the walkway to the front door, his muscles screaming in protest against any and all movement he made. There was a small rockslide in a cave that held a barrier stone. The stone itself wasn't damaged, but Uomi wanted the rubble disposed of quickly as possible. Which meant heavy lifting and he had been the only one capable of lifting up the boulders. Now he was feeling the aftermath and all he wanted to do was lie down and rest.
He paused when he saw the light inside were on. Lucas was home. However, Lucas was also up. The familiar grumbled under his breath as he opened the door and closed it loudly. "Lucas," He said after hanging up his jacket, his footsteps heavy on the floor. "You know you're not suppose to be up this late."
He walked into the kitchen, finding it empty but the microwave's electrical letters rolling through their cycle. "Lucas." He took a quick look into the laundry room and even the piano room in case he were hiding from him. "Lucas?" He climbed the stairs, checked the teen's room, he and Wadanohara's, and even the rooms the other familiars stayed in occasionally. No one was in the house except for Samekichi.
"Where the hell is he?" The great white muttered as he descended the stairs back into the main floor. He clicked the off button on the microwave and removed the plate inside. It was hardly warm. If there was one thing he knew about his nephew, it was that the boy could eat his weight when he wanted to. He hardly ever left a plate with food on it.
"Luca-" Samekichi never got the Youngblood's name out before his eyes fell on the tile below and his blood turned to ice.
There, amongst the pale blue tiles of the kitchen, was a small splatter of something dark. Something that he hoped to god was only soy sauce. But no, Samekichi knew better than that. His senses easily picked up the coppery smell within the water, faint but still there.
That was blood.
"Lucas!" Samekichi tore through the house, ignoring his own screaming muscles and setting into Panic as he went through every room a second and even third time. Lucas was gone. Lucas was gone and there was blood on the floor. The Great White practically tore the front door off it's hinges as he whipped it open and took off in a sprint towards the Palace. All pain from hard labor was replaced with adrenaline as he ran. Wadanohara was with the Princess and Tatsumiya, he knew this for a fact.
He flew up the countless flights of stairs and burst through the doors into the throne room, panting and heaving a storm as he hunched over his knees.
"Samekichi!" Wadanohara was by his side in an instant, a hand on his arm and alarm written on her features. She had never seen her familiar so worked up before. "Samekichi what's wrong? What happened?"
It took a moment but as soon as Samekichi had enough breath in his lungs, he let out it out in a string of three words. "Lucas is gone!"
"Gone?" Tatsumiya rose from Uomi's side, brows furrowing in worry. "What do you mean gone? Couldn't he be at Isaac's?" She watched the shake his head.
"No. Wada, Tatsumiya, there was blood in the house. There was blood in the kitchen and Lucas is gone."
Wadanohara paled at the information, painting the worst picture as images of her nephew beaten and bleeding flashed through her mind's eye. "Oh my God.." Her hand came to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. Tatsumiya put a hand on her shoulder before looking to the shark. "I will alert the guards. You tell everyone on the Citizen's watch what has happened. I will also check in with Isaac to see if perhaps he's seen Lucas."
Princess Uomi appeared behind the oar fish, her features feigning a more negative expression than her usual neutrality. "I shall contact Tosatsu Kingdom and ask for their aid. Lucas must be found. However, I fear I know what has happened." The other three looked at her in question. "For some time now, I senses the door between the Sea Kingdom and the Red Sea beginning to open. I meant to tell all of you, however I did not want to have you worry over something that may have just been my nerves faltering. I regret my decision now."
"Princess," Tatsumiya whispered, fear creeping into her face as her lip trembled. "You..you don't mean to say-?"
Her highness closed her eyes and nodded gravely.
"Yes. I fear today is the day when Lucas' father has chosen to reveal himself. I believe Lucas has been kidnapped by Sal."
