Alit stared down at her sleeping form all while trembling and hyperventilating. He was in denial, shaking his head back and forth. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be. She was dead. She was gone. She... was...
Alit crumpled down on the bed next to the girl's unconscious figure. He reached out and brushed her hair back, just as he had done so many times before, staring into her all-too familiar face. Finally, he swallowed his tears and whispered in a choked voice,
"Maple?"
She gave no response, as Alit completely expected considering she was not conscious, but it was all he needed. He picked up her body and cradled her in her arms. He brought her up to his face and sobbed into her shoulder.
"Maple... Maple I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry," Alit cried softly, tears now streaming down his face. "I am sorry I didn't recognize you. I am a total and complete moron, maple leaf. My little maple leaf... I am so sorry. Why? Why did all this have to happen to you?! How- how could that stupid, stupid son of a bitch do this to you?! He hurt you... and Bryan- oh God, and Bryan! I didn't recognize him either! I can't believe I actually didn't- oh God."
Alit buried his face in his hands, letting Maple fall on his lap. "Sorry!" he yelped, "Sorry, I didn't mean to drop you, maple leaf. I can't-" Alit buried his face back into his hands, "I am an idiot! I didn't know you were you. I wish so badly that I recognized you back when I first saw you again. Curse this stupid memory loss! I wish I knew who you were, maybe then you wouldn't've stayed hurt for so long. I just..."
Alit brushed back her hair and kissed her forehead, picking her up again. "I totally screwed up, maple leaf. I am so sorry, so sorry."
He rocked her back and forth for a while, crying softly with his sister's body in his arms. After a while, he finally found his voice again. "Maple leaf, how could you have been hurt this badly? Why did you have to suffer like this?!" he held her closer to his chest, "Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt ever again, sis. Don't worry. Just... shh, it's okay, maple leaf, it's okay," he whispered, aware he was trying to comfort himself more than her at the moment, "How could that bastard to this to all of you? You and Bryan and Mom and Dad- oh crap! Dad's a book! Oh God... this feels worse than when I first found out about all that bastard did to you. And Mom... that son of a bitch raped her! He's dead when I see him next. He is deader than dead!"
Alit felt her stir slightly in his arms and he quickly laid her back down on the bed with her head resting on a soft pillow. Her eyes blinked slowly open and she winched slightly at the sudden light. "Mmph..."
"Maple? Can you hear me?" Alit asked softly.
She turned her head and looked up at him, eyes widening. "B- big brother?!"
Alit smiled and nodded, even though he still had tears falling from his eyes. She stared at him for a few more seconds, then burst out into tears, alarming Alit. "Maple?! What's wrong?!"
"I- but- you-" she engulfed Alit in a hug and sobbed into in shoulders for a few minutes before finally explaining why she was crying. "You're dead, Alit. And if you're dead and you're here, then I'm dead too and I died during the transformation and Bryan's all alone and Red-" she broke off sobbing again.
Alit's eyes widened and he slammed his head on the bed's headrest. "Oh dang it, I am a total moron. Sorry, Princess."
She froze and her sobs ceased, then she pulled back and looked into Alit's eyes. "...Red-nii?"
Alit's tears flowed down his cheeks once more. "I am so sorry I didn't recognize you at first, maple leaf. I'm so sorry." he held her close to his chest and hugged her tightly.
She hugged him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing too. "Big brother! You're here... and you're alive."
Alit smiled then pulled back and kissed her forehead. "Oh, maple leaf. I am such an idiot."
"It's okay, Alit," she assured him, "You lost your memory. At least you recognized me once I was back to normal." Maple suddenly yawned widely and looked exhausted.
Alit laid her back down on the bed. "Take it easy and rest, Maple. You're going to be tired for a while."
"O- okay, big brother," she yawned sleepily. "Can you go tell Bryan who you are? Please?"
"Of course! I'll call Gilag and ask him to watch over you for a few minutes while I go do that, okay?" Alit soothed.
"Okay..." she half-closed her eyes and murmured, "Big brother?"
"Yes, maple leaf?" Alit whispered.
"I don't want this to be a dream. Please still be here when I wake up," Maple begged.
Alit kissed her forehead. "It's not, don't worry."
She smiled then closed her eyes and Alit held her hand. After he was certain that she was asleep, he pulled out his phone and texted Gilag,
Battlin: Gilag, I really, really need you to get over here!
MightyHand: What's wrong?
Battlin: You know the little girl?
MightyHand: Yeah? Did something go wrong? Dumon told me about the whole turning her and her brother into barians thing.
Battlin: Oh, so you know about that, cool. And no, everything's great on that front.
MightyHand: So what's the problem?
Battlin: She's my sister.
MightyHand: Yeah, I heard about you adopting her, so?
Battlin: No, I mean she's my REAL little sister.
MightyHand: Wait, what?!
Battlin: She's my biological sister. Look, just get over here and watch her. I need to go see my little brother and let him know I'm, well, me.
MightyHand: On my way.
Alit waited for a couple seconds before Gilag materialized in front of him. "Thanks, Gilag," Alit breathed in relief.
"No problem, Alit," Gilag assured him. He leaned over and looked at Maple's sleeping figure. "You know, when she's not a doll, you can really see the resemblance between you two. What was her name again?"
"Maple," Alit answered, brushing back her hair again fondly.
"Right. So you're going to tell your brother that you're you?" Gilag asked.
"That's the plan. I'll be back in a few minutes, I just didn't want her to be left alone. After all that happened..." Alit trailed off then coughed awkwardly, "Be back really soon." He opened an overlay network to Barian World and dissolved into it, regretfully leaving his little sister.
Alit stepped out behind Dumon and Bryan. Bryan was lying down on a crystal table, apparently almost done with the preparations for becoming a barian. As much as Alit wanted to run to him and hug him right now, it was definitely not a good idea to do so. "Hey, Dumon?"
Dumon started then whirled around. "You startled me! Why are you back?"
"I- can we please talk in private for a second?" Alit begged.
Dumon hesitated, then nodded. Bryan turned his head and sat up, just now noticing him. "Red-nii! What are you doing here? Has sis woken up?"
"Um, she did for a while then she went back to sleep. Believe me, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important," Alit assured him, trying to keep his voice even.
"Red-nii? W- what's wrong?" Apparently he failed.
"N- nothing! Just let me talk to Dumon for a minute then I'll tell you what's going on, okay?" Alit proposed.
"O- okay. Everything's really alright, right?" Bryan asked hesitantly.
Alit 'smiled' sadly, trying to keep his tears from falling. "Oh it is. Trust me on that, Bryan."
Bryan blinked. "How do you know my name?"
Oops. "I'll tell you in a moment. Come on Dumon." Alit grabbed Dumon's arm and teleported to the far corner of the room, out of the doll's earshot.
"Alit, what happened?" Dumon asked.
Alit took a deep breath. "Dumon, they're my siblings."
"I am aware you have informally adopted them-" Dumon began.
"No, I mean, biologically." Alit corrected.
Dumon blinked. "Ah..." he appeared at a loss for words before sighing, "I surmise you did not recognize them as dolls. That is understandable, especially when coupled with your memory loss. I suppose this means Merag won the bet."
"Wait, what?" Alit was thrown for a loop.
"Merag and Vector made a bet," Dumon began, "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to give you false hope if Vector won. It began by Merag, Vector, and I discussing your reaction to the house. Merag thought that perhaps it was your house in your past life and that the man in the book was your father. Vector thought it was stupid and told her so, in much harsher wording than I used now. She was about to attack him before I stepped between them. I managed to calm them down slightly then Merag proposed a bet between her and Vector. I don't think you want to know what the stakes were."
"A bet?! Seriously?!" Alit cried.
Dumon gave him a look. "Alit, you, Gilag, and Vector made a bet about whether Nasch was dead or not. Gilag said he was fine, you said he was injured, and Vector said he was, and I quote, "dead, dead, deadity dead dead" then sang about it. And this all took place within earshot of me."
"Oh, it did?" Alit winced.
"Yes. It did. That was why Misael beat Vector to near-death with a hammer, because I locked myself in my room and he assumed it was Vector's fault." Dumon sighed.
"Oh... sorry." Alit whimpered.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Dumon 'smiled', "I will have to place your brother in a crystal confinement while you talk to him. I do not want to have to start over because you touched each other via hug."
"R- right! Thanks Dumon!" Alit 'grinned'. The two teleported back to Bryan and Dumon created a crystal ball around him.
"H- huh?! R- Red-nii?! What's going on?" Bryan whimpered.
Alit knelt down so he was eye level with his little brother. Now that he knew that the boy "Prince" was his little brother, he could actually point out the changes that that bastard had made to him. His hair used to be a dark strawberry blond but now it was golden blond and his skin was pale when it used to be very slightly tanned. Also, in retrospect, the fancy clothes that bastard had put him in were probably absolute torture for him to wear. Same with his sister and the dress.
"Red-nii?" Bryan asked once more, sounding scared.
"Oh, sorry! I was just thinking." Alit apologized shakily.
"Why am I in here? What's going on?!" Bryan cried.
"Sorry about that too, Bryan. It's just so you don't touch me and have to wait for another few hours before you can transform into a barian," Alit explained.
"H- how do you know my name?" Bryan asked shakily, sounding scared.
"Hey, don't be scared. It's okay, I promise! I'm really sorry for scaring you." Alit apologized.
"What's going on?" Bryan asked once more.
"Bryan... do you recognize me? If not, that's okay! I didn't recognize you either and I am completely and totally sorry about that. My only excuse is that I lost my memory and a lot of things are still fuzzy and that I'm an idiot." Alit laughed nervously.
"Wh- what?! Red-nii, you're not making any sense!" Bryan cried.
Alit felt tears brimming. "Okay, here's a hint, remember George?"
Bryan's eyes went wide. "How do you know about him?! The only ones who know are me, Dad, and..." his mouth fell open as he got it. "ALIT?!"
Alit nodded and gave up on keeping his tears at bay. "Yep... I'm sorry, Bryan."
Bryan pressed his palms to the crystal that separated him from Alit. "Big brother!"
Alit pressed a light 'kiss' to the glass. "How are you doing, Bryan? Are you feeling alright?"
"I- I guess! I mean, I'm still a doll but that'll be over soon! And you're alive so I'm definitely great!" Bryan chirped, although Alit had a suspicion he would be crying if he could be. "Except..."
"What? What's the matter?" Alit asked nervously.
"I just..." Bryan looked down, "You've seen me as a doll... just a worthless, old, pathetic piece of junk. I never wanted you to have to see me so weak, helpless, and worthless, big brother."
Alit's eyes went wide. Of course, just being extra-clingy would not be Bryan's only mental scar from all this. "Bryan, look at me. You're NOT worthless! You're not a piece of junk and never will be! Bryan..." Alit was crying his heart out now at his little brother's pain, "You're not weak, Bryan. You survived all this with your mental sanity intact, that alone proves you're stronger than most people I have met. Bryan, you're my baby brother. I love you! You're not worthless."
Bryan sniffled. "Big brother..."
"I do not wish to break up this reunion, however Bryan's ready for his transformation now," Dumon stated. Alit took a few steps back as Dumon summoned over a crystal and the wall surrounding Bryan seceded. Bryan crawled over and into the cavern in the crystal. He smiled at Alit and gave him a thumbs' up before the crystal covered the opening, trapping him inside. As with Maple, the crystal started to glow brightly and Alit had to shield his eyes before it finally dimmed.
As the glow faded, Alit saw a young male barian with deep red skin like his and a white mask that also resembled his except the center part that pointed upwards was missing. Alit 'smiled'. Looks like his little brother got his wish.
The crystal released Bryan and Alit ran over to catch him before he hit the ground. Alit rocked Bryan in his arms. "Thanks Dumon!"
"No problem, Alit. I hope your family recovers soon," Dumon 'smiled' and opened an overlay network for Alit, who dissolved into it. Alit appeared next to Gilag and Maple.
"Hey Gilag!" Alit chirped.
Gilag looked up. "Hey Alit! Is that your brother?"
"Yep! His name is Bryan." Alit replied as he laid his brother down on the bed with his sister.
"He's adorable," Gilag commented.
"I know, he's my brother after all!" Alit exclaimed. He looked down at his sleeping siblings and grinned. He had his family back! And his siblings were barians! Of course, his mom was still MIA and his dad was a book. Oh boy... explaining who he was to his dad was going to be so much freaking fun.