Sylva rolls her eyes as the lights flicker back on. She wasn't surprised that that the triplets had run away. They did that almost every time. Sylva got up from her seat, preparing to leave. She was bored already, having just witness yet another fight between her siblings. Wasn't the first, probably not the last. She sneaks past the front of the class room, rushing past her groaning siblings and overly excited classmates.
Sylva walks slowly down the street, deciding to head home. She had skipped a whole day of class without a touch of regret. It was getting dark, and she had a strange sense of ominousness. She hears a scrape of metal behind her. She whips around, a sense of dread filling her. Then Sylva came face-to-face with her worst fear.
"Sylva…" he calls, barring his pointy white teeth.
"No, please, no." Sylva says, quickly backing away from her assailant as he swishes a long blade towards her. It cuts off a lock of hair, and Sylva breaks into a sprint. She turns into alleyways, trying to evade the man, but the sound of metal scraping against the sidewalk was constant. Sylva turns into a particularly crowded alley, jumping past garbage cans and other trash. She stops cold when she realizes she can't hear the metal scraping anymore. Where was he? Did he leave?
She slowly continues walking, trying to calm her breathing. As she nears the end of the alley, she hears a giggle. Sylva instinctively kicks the air, as the edge of a sword slices her stomach. The creepy old man falls to the ground, and she brings a hand to her gushing stomach. Without a second thought, she turns around and runs.
Sylva continues running, her small fingers doing nothing to stop the red fountain pouring from her stomach. She leans against a wall near a crosswalk, and her eyes shut slowly. She had taken to much blood loss. Sylva was dying.
"Honestly, Sylva should smile more. Its been so long since I've heard her beautiful voice..." Mother said, her face upset.
Hex stared at the woman, upset that she was sad. He hated seeing his mother on the verge of tears. It has gone on long enough, Hex thought. It wasn't fair for Sylva to ruin their mother's happiness.
"I'll try talking to her-" Hex's words get cut off, when the twins walk in.
"Sorry, we're late!" The boys say in unison. Hex sulkily retreats back into the shadows, his plate in hand. He never got to say anything.
"Thank you, honey." He heard his mother whisper, just before walking out.
A smile formed on his pale lips, as he walked to Sylva's room. He knocked on the door, and heard nothing in response. Then a small whisper wafts in the air, almost as an echo.
'Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone. You'll just pick on me again.' Hex widened his eyes.
"I promise I won't pick on you, Sylva." He said, trying to comfort the little girl.
If only he had realized that he wasn't hearing her words, and instead her thoughts.
He heard padded footsteps approach the door, before the lock was unbolted, and Sylva peeked outside. Hex offered her a smile, his usually emotionless face instead looking pleasant. Sylva had motioned for him to walk inside, and he followed in suite.
Why is he here? Does he need something? Sylva thought.
"I'm here because I want to talk." Hex said.
Oh great. Sylva thought, More lecturing.
"I promise I'm not going to lecture you" Hex says as he opens the door to Sylva's room. He walks inside, and takes a seat beside her on the mattress.
Yeah right. Sylva thought That's what everyone says before I get a lecture.
"Listen!" Hex interjects "Sylva, I promise I won't lecture you. If I don't, you'll answer a few questions?" Sylva nods shyly. "Why is it that one day you just shut everything out and stop talking?"
It's not much different them how it was. No one pays attention to a talentless Eevee.
"Hey, you're not the only one. And Mom cares. Hell, she's heartbroken."
Whatever. So am I, and I have been for years.
"Sylva, stop being so selfish, please. I'm in the same shitty boat as you, okay? And yeah, it sucks. Having no talent fucking sucks, I get it. But how is not saying a word helping anyone? I miss your voice, and makes everyone else miserable, too. Come on, Sylva. For Mom? For me?"
I thought he said I wasn't going to get a lecture.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
Huh?
"Taking the the third person. It's weird."
But...I'm not saying anything.
"Stop being ridiculous. I can he-ar you!"
I'm not talking! Why the hell doesn't he understand!?
"Quit talking in the third person! You're not the only person in the room!"
Wait a second...Hex, can you hear this?
"Well...yeah. That's kind of a dumb question. But why?"
Sylva got up from her pillow, and sat up, on her bed, facing Hex.
Because I'm not talking.
She said with her lips completely closed.
"Holy shit." Hex said "Sylva, are you telepathic?"
No. I'm not really doing anything but thinking. Hex, you're hearing my thoughts. You're a mind-reader!
"Woah." Hex said with his eyes wide and blank.
"Hex! That's your Talent!" Sylva said
"Oh my God! And..Sylva, you're talking!"
"Hey, what's going on in here?" Izo and Blaze bust onto the scene.
"How many times have I told you to stay out of my room!" Sylva yells at her brothers.
"Like we're gonna listen. Wait a sec, you're talking!" Izo says
"Mom! Mom, come here, Sylva's talking again!" Blaze cries out the door.
It didn't take long for Sylva's mother, and entire rest of her family to storm into her small living space, crowding around her, and waiting to hear her voice again. "Darling, how lovely is it that my baby's talking again! Oh, how I missed it! Sylva!" Mother says, tears welling in her eyes.
"But that's not all! Hex got his Talent!" Sylva says.
"Hex? You did?" Mom said
"What is it?" Leila asked him, eager to see what her twin could do.
"Think of something." Hex told her.
A few moments passed.
"So you did used to throw the veggies you hated onto my plate when we were little. I always knew I seemed to get more then everyone else."
Leila starts to blush and everyone laughs. The conversation quickly changed from Sylva's end of being mute to Hex's new powers. And as happy as she was for him, something else poked at her mind. She was now the only one without a Talent. And soon, she would fade back into the background.
My eyes snap open, as I feel someone violently shaking me. "Hey, wake up! You okay?!" A panicked boy yells at me, a death grip on my shoulder. "Yes, yes, yes. I'm fine!" I respond through the pain, wincing at how much his shaking was hurting me. "Oh my god, your bleeding!" He yells, through his bangs, his long black and white hair reminding me of Kidd. My eyes widen in realization. "No, I'm not!" I say, desperately trying to think if a lie. Then it hits me. "This is just fake blood, for a play. Yes, Hamlet, or something..." The boy raises an eyebrow, suspiciously. "Yep, and then I got stoned, and ended up falling asleep here. Yes, that's it. "
He raises an eyebrow questionably, and helps me up. The instant my feet are one the ground, I run. I clutch my stomach, as I head straight home. I couldn't afford anyone else seeing me in this state. ••
Sylva slams the door shut, and leapt onto her bed. She needed something to apply pressure on the wound. The pain was killing her, and she has a headache that's brutal. She leans against the bedpost, holding her blanket to the cut. Why did this keep happening to her? Who was that man? She could just see his eerie smile, and his coarse voice ringing loudly in her ears. When would this nightmare end? ••
"Alright, so what did you do?" Hex asks, looking at his younger siblings.
"No one has any idea what your talking about, Hex." Aqua says, playing with her hair.
"Yeah, we're not mind-readers!" Blaze adds, earning a groan from Izo. Hex narrows his eyes.
"One of you must have done something! Ever since coming to DWMA, Sylva's been so distant." He retorts, debating if he should just read their mind, and get it over with.
"And you think one of us has something to do with it, because...?" Emerald trails off, waiting for Hex to finish her sentence.
"And every time that happens its usually because one of you do something!" Hex accuses, pointing his finger at them. The triplets have identical pouts on their face, as they turn to the twins.
"Well, it wasn't us." They say in unison. "So, what did you do?"
The twins shrug.
"It wasn't us either..." Izo begins.
"Yeah, we're currently in the middle of planning the prank of the century. " Blaze continues. "We wouldn't let ourselves be distracted by something so early in the process. Ain't that right, Izo?"
Izo nods, pushing up his glasses.
"She's probably just getting bullied at school. Which is oddly understandable, right?" Jolta sighs, unusually depressed. "Why don't you just ask her?"
Hex widens his eyes. He had never even considered the possibility that she was having trouble at school. Everyone in the Eevee clan was homeschooled, until Mother decided that the forest we lived near was unsafe, and we had been sent to Death City. Everyone had assimilated just fine, but maybe Sylva was having trouble? He rushes up to her room, and hesitantly knocks on her door. There was no answer, but he could sense that she was in there.
"Sylva?" He calls out, a sadness filling him. "Sylva, please?"
Sylva widens her eyes. He could hear the sadness wafting off from his voice. Oh, please, please, please, don't read my mind, was the only thought in mind.
"Sylva, please. We haven't talked in so long." He whispers against the door. Sylva's eyes fill with tears. Out of all the people in her family Hex was the only one that needed her. Sure, the others would trust her to help them, but none of them really depended on her, as though it would be an embarrassment to need her help. Hex, eversince he got his power, they had gotten closer, and talked almost regularly. Sylva sighs. "Sylva, I miss you. I need you. I can't go back to being that gloomy kid. Sylva..." Sylva's eyes overflow. It broke her heart, ignoring Hex like that. But she couldn't possibly let him see her in this state. Covered in blood, and tired, running from a murderer. She just couldn't.