Chapter 35: Mental Weight of Family
Disclaimer:
Recently, I've had the biggest urge to keep writing and writing with this fan fic since I'm enjoying telling you Lucas's story. It also makes me want to update more frequently so that's just what I'll do. Usually, I would update every week with one chapter but since I'm enjoying this a lot, as well as the fact that I'll be on holiday next month where I probably won't update for a few weeks, I wanted to show as many chapters as I can. I might stick to some sort of schedule but it'll probably be something like two chapters a week from now until December... (maybe?). It all depends but for now, my feeling is that I just can't wait to update!
You guys are in for a heavy chapter! I put a lot of work into this one, especially towards the end so hope you guys enjoy! Cya.
"Your siblings have run off? Well, we'll have to find them quickly since it's started to get a bit chilly here", Lucas spoke to the Blue Rose mage.
The day, or rather the evening, had started with Lucas and Daisy enjoying themselves a nice dinner at Rebecca's family-run restaurant. Daisy surprised Lucas with his favourite meal and the two dug into both of their plates. However, as the two were leaving for their bases, they were hit with the news that Daisy's siblings had tricked their caretaker and run off.
"I really had hoped they wouldn't cause trouble today but that's just what they do…", Daisy face palmed. Though, while no one noticed, her body started to shake in a worried and uneasy fashion.
Sister Theresa managed to catch her breath and spoke to the two Magic Knights. "Who's this?" She asked looking at Lucas.
"My name's Lucas and I'm from the Golden Dawn. I was just here with Daisy when we saw you", he replied.
"Nice to meet you, Lucas. Another Magic Knight that seems dependable! I had the pleasure of meeting Asta earlier and he's a right treat. Though, there was Gauche as well who's an ignorant and sorry excuse for a man". Theresa sighed and frowned.
Lucas looked at her and then at Daisy, wondering who this 'Gauche' was.
Daisy mentioned that he was part of Asta's squad. "He comes here every month but he's very weird, I can't lie. You'll see if we ever have the pleasure of meeting him…". Her voice slightly dropped in volume at the end which signalled to Lucas that there wouldn't actually be any 'pleasure' in meeting this person.
"Since you two are going to help, the only information I can give is that they said they'll play Hide and Seek. Of course, I thought they would play in their house, but they went running off…", Theresa face palmed.
"Why don't you rest, Sister Theresa? Lucas-san and I will find the little troublemakers quickly", Daisy added as she spoke to the old woman. The two mages then ran off in one direction.
Since the day was turning into a dark night, there was a slight chill in the air. The moon reflected off certain buildings and gave a bit of illumination, though there were glowing streetlamps and candles that did that too.
Lucas and Daisy ran around together and looked a few different areas, but it was proving to be difficult.
"Daisy, how many of your siblings are there?" Lucas asked, running slightly behind the worried Ice mage.
"There's four of them…", she huffed as she ran. Eventually she stopped to take a breath. "Yeah, there's four others. Their names are Alice, Chloe, Grace, and Sonia".
Lucas stopped as well and rested for a few moments. "Four of them, and they're all girls. That's gonna be hard to find all of them… but don't worry. We'll manage to do so".
"Thank you so much. You should be back at your base by now and yet you're helping me with this. You don't know how much this means to me", Daisy smiled with her big eyes looking at Lucas.
Lucas slightly blushed. He didn't know whether it was because of how Daisy spoke to him there or because of his body trying to preserve heat due to the cold breeze. Either way, he smiled back.
"So, is there any sort of description about them that I can use?" Lucas asked and Daisy started describing her siblings.
"There is, yes. Alice has orange hair - a bit like me - and is quite the troublemaker. If there's noise, then she's probably there".
"Chloe is a shy girl, and I have an idea of where she could be so leave her to me".
As for Grace and Sonia… well, they're twins and are inseparable. They always carry stuffed animals as toys which include a beaver and a monkey".
Lucas nodded and took the information in. "Wow, okay", he sighed. "I'd say let's split up for now since we'd be able to cover more ground. Since it's cold I just worry they'll get ill, so we'll have to hurry!"
Daisy's eyes widened but quickly relaxed as she formed a warm smile. "You know just what to say! I agree with the plan, so if you find any of them go to this address…". She wrote her address on a little piece of paper and handed it to the Light mage.
The two separated and went in opposite directions to find the siblings.
Lucas went towards the church where he saw Sister Theresa head to after they separated. In his head, he was thinking since it had gotten colder that some of the little girls may have went inside to seek warmth.
"These siblings… it's quite cold and they just ran off like that? Maybe this is why Daisy always comes to visit them since they're always in trouble", he chuckled to himself. "I wonder if I made trouble for Big Sis, Iris when I was younger?" He wondered.
The coldness in the air had started to condense and fall to the floor. What was left were little puddles of water and Lucas noticed something interesting in a few of them.
"Hm? The water puddles are common since it's quite cold. The thing is though…". Lucas knelt down to them and saw that they had been ran across since the mud, dirt, and soil underneath the puddle had been moved and broken.
"The footsteps in the mud there… they're little ones and look a little flat so they could be wearing some normal flat shoes. The only problem is that there's a lot of these footsteps here and might belong to other people as well since the town is still busy, even at this time". Lucas got up and walked on, following the footsteps anyway.
"I feel like some sort of detective now, haha. After the whole incident with Letoile and her family, I feel like I'm a bit more experienced in looking at the little differences", he thought.
Eventually, Lucas reached the church. It was a large building with two big, red roofs next to each other that were triangular in shape. The building had light-coloured stones and bricks that were joined together to give it a strong structure. There was also a large entrance with a shape of a cross symbolising that it was a church, just above the doorway.
"Hm? The doorway is opened so someone could be in there. I'll have a look and see", Lucas walked towards the opened door.
He peered through and saw nothing as it was complete darkness. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the light difference but since it was taking too long, he just generated some light in his left palm and illuminated the area.
The ground floor of the church had rows of brown benches that faced towards a large and colourful glass mosaic structure in the back. On the right, there was a shelf of papers and after a quick glance at them, Lucas realised the church also served as an orphanage where the kids would live on the upper floors.
"I don't want to make too much noise since other children could be sleeping here", he tiptoed. Initially, he didn't see anything of interest on the ground floor, so he started to head to the next floor but as he reached the first step, he heard two noises that sounded exactly the same.
"ACHOO!"
"ACHOO!"
Two sneezes were heard, one after the other, and Lucas turned around back to the ground floor as he did.
"Two sneezes? I can't even see the people who did it so are they hiding? I'm sure I looked everywhere but how…?" He wondered. Lucas put more power into his illuminating light and further lit up the room he was in.
Again, he looked in cupboards, behind desks, and even under the benches. As he reached the last bench that was the closest to the glass mosaic, he ducked his head down and saw two sets of blue eyes that were looking at him. The most notable feature of them both was that their noses were dripping in snot as they had caught a cold.
"Two of you… you're the twins! Grace and Sonia, Daisy is worried sick, come on out of there, you two!" Lucas spoke to them softly, yet urgently, and they agreed.
The twins were together just as Daisy had said. Grace was holding the stuffed monkey and Sonia was holding the stuffed beaver. They both had medium-length, yellow-blonde hair that were curled towards the bottom. Both of their eyes were a warm, blue colour and they wore plain black clothes with some white patterns going across. Finally, they wore some flat, black shoes.
The one thing that differentiated the twins from one another, apart from the stuffed animals, was that Grace's cheeks had a few sets of freckles, whereas Sonia's did not.
Lucas also looked at their shoes and realised his hunch was correct when he was analysing the puddles outside the church.
"Um, mister… who are you?" Grace asked and pointed.
"Yeah, yeah! Are you playing hide and seek with us as well?" Sonia jumped in excitement.
Grace and Sonia joined their hands together and looked at the Light mage.
"No, I'm here to take you two home! You realise how cold it's gotten and, not to mention, your older sister is quite worried like I said earlier", Lucas knelt down and spoke to them.
The twins looked at each other for a bit and whispered a few things to one another.
"Hm, you seem like a nice person but how can we trust you?" Grace wondered, hugging her stuffed monkey toy.
"Oh, I know! Let's ask him a few questions about Big Sis since he said he knows her!" Sonia smiled.
"Great idea, Sonia! So… Lucas, what squad is she in?" Grace asked.
Lucas sighed as he felt like this was going to go nowhere, though he knew he couldn't exactly argue with a bunch of kids.
"Daisy is with the Blue Rose Knights", he sat on one of the benches and answered.
"Correct, correct!"
"Hm, now… what's her magic?"
"How old is she?"
"How many siblings does she have?"
"You guys really are prepared with a questionnaire, aren't you? She uses Ice Magic, she's 16, and she has four siblings in total", Lucas face palmed, realising this was turning to be pointless.
"What about her cup size?"
"O-okay guys!" Lucas immediately got up and ushered the two twins outside of the church and he closed the door. "Now that's going a bit too far!" He turned to the side and squinted his eyes while scratching his head. "How do a couple of eight-year olds know about cup sizes?!"
"Aw, no fun mister!" Grace pouted.
"…But he did answer them so we should listen. We can trust him", Sonia said.
Lucas punched the air in a bout of victory. "Finally…", he smiled.
The Magic Knight and the twins were heading towards the address when Lucas saw the two shivering again.
"ACHOO!" The sneezed in unison.
"You guys are synchronised. Twins, ay?" Lucas knelt down to their height and touched their cheeks and realised just how cold they had gotten. "This isn't good".
"Mister, it's fin-ACHOO!" One of them began but were interrupted by their cold.
Lucas poker faced and looked at the two. "Hang on, you two. Light Binding Magic: Coils of Trapped Light…", the mage whispered.
"Instead of having this spell bind you… I'll make it so it covers your clothes and give you a bit of heat", he smiled. The binding spell wrapped around the two twins and now they had a feeling of warmth start to embrace them. "Since this is a binding spell, it's used to keep whoever or whatever it coils around inside, which also means trapping the heat".
"You're so cool, mister!" The twins spoke together.
"Haha thanks! You can call me Lucas though", he walked behind them and had his hands on their backs to guide them properly.
As they did walk on, there was a thought in the back of Lucas's mind.
"It's kind of confusing. From how Daisy dresses, as well as the clothes these guys are wearing, I would've thought they're nobles, but Nean is where a lot of commoners live… I guess it's not that important", he shrugged his thought off and carried on.
At the opposite side of Nean, Daisy was busy running around trying to look for her siblings as well. She looked through various different shops and alleyways but couldn't find any of them. However, she did have an idea of where one of them could be as she searched all of these places.
"I feel like Chloe, since she's quite shy, would hide in a quiet area. What I'm thinking is the library…", she thought as she ran up towards the building she was looking for.
The Nean library was a smaller building compared to the huge church, but it was completely filled with different books and documents. The outside had a small entranceway with a dark-brown and wooden door with the symbol of a book printed on top. The roof was a dark-brown colour too.
As the Ice mage was about to open the door to the building, she turned her head slightly to the right and saw something that made her worry.
She knelt down and picked up the item. "A brown boot? Th-this is exactly the type that Chloe wears. Did she trip and fall?" Daisy quickly took the boot and walked into the building of books.
Since the library was open 24/7, the inside was lit up with lamps and it had many windows that let in the illuminous moonlight from outside. There was only one floor so searching would be quite easy, but the only thing that might prove difficult was how close together all of the bookcases and bookshelves were.
"Is it a good thing that Chloe may have come here? Maybe, since it's warm inside… but maybe not, since it's so congested", Daisy thought as she rummaged through.
The Ice mage walked around and looked through various doors that led to different parts of the building, but she found nothing. There was also no one working at this time.
"Tsk. Since Nean is a pretty safe area, a lot of people decided to keep the library open 24/7. The bad thing about that is that the staff aren't always here… I definitely could have asked them for information", she sighed as she trod through.
"I wonder how Lucas-san is doing? Hopefully he's doing better than I am…". She stopped walking when she reached the end of the last row of bookcases and paused for a moment. "I feel really bad about asking Lucas-san for this… I need to pay him back somehow!"
Daisy looked around as she felt defeated but then realised something. "Since Chloe is without one of her boots, that means she had to have run through the wet floor outside. She could have made footprints on the floor…!"
The Blue Rose Knight looked again, this time looking for specific wet footprints and eventually found them. They led behind and under the librarian desk.
"It's frustrating since Chloe loves to hide her mana presence due to her shyness, but I guess Detective Daisy is victorious since…!" Daisy quickly peered through the small opening under the desk and saw some short, red hair peeking out. "Chloe!"
"AH!" A little voice shouted, and she jumped. Though, since she did, she hit the roof of the underside of the desk and managed to hurt her head.
"Sis…?! Why d-did you shout like that…?" She turned around and her purple eyes started to water as she held her head.
Daisy sighed and face palmed once more, just as she had made a habit of doing during this whole night. "Maybe I shouldn't have scared her?"
After a few minutes of Daisy apologising and consoling her little sister, they made up and hugged one another.
Chloe had short, red hair with a bun at the back. Her eyes were slightly purple and quite big, similar to Daisy's. Chloe wore a blue t-shirt with a picture of a bear in the middle of it and then had a singular, brown boot on as well.
"Big Sis… I l-lost a boot of mine when I ran here…", Chloe softly apologised.
"Of course you did, you klutz! Don't worry, Big Sis found your other one so let's put it on you", Daisy teased slightly but smiled and tried to help.
Daisy held her sister's right foot in the palm of her hand but as she looked at it more closely, she saw that there was a cut right in the middle that was slightly bleeding.
"It's no wonder this happened without your right boot…", Daisy took out a swab of cotton from her grimoire satchel and applied some pressure to the wound.
"Th-thank you… It's good that you always carry s-some medicine and stuff around w-with you", Chloe smiled with a wince as she felt the sting of her wound.
"Okay, the wound is clean now but just to be safe I'll apply some of my Ice Magic to your cut, so it stops bleeding altogether". Daisy softly put her fingers near the wound and generated a small amount of ice that wrapped around Chloe's right foot and sat in place.
Chloe hugged Daisy again and had started to stand up when she cried out in pain.
"Chloe…", Daisy sighed. "I guess putting on pressure to the exact same foot isn't the best idea".
Daisy knelt down and had Chloe jump on her back. "Now, wrap your arms around my neck so you don't fall off now, missy. Also, hold your boot ya lazy girl!" She laughed.
The two siblings slowly made their way out of the library and headed towards where they lived.
"Now Chloe. I hope you know that you and the others are in trouble for running off like that and away from Sister Theresa! I told you to behave, especially since today was really important to me…", Daisy said, growing frustrated and having a tiny bit of sadness.
"I'm sorry, Big Sis! I th-thought that it would be fine since A-Alice said it'll be fine. She said that a seven-year-old like me should be more independent…", Chloe apologised.
Daisy held Chloe's hand tightly and warmed them up. "A seven-year-old and being independent shouldn't even go together!" She calmed down and thought. "I should've known it would be Alice…".
While the two Magic Knights were busy trying to find the siblings, somewhere, just past the Town of Nean and in a dark and eerie cave, something was plotting...
"Hohoho! I can't wait to see what sort of merchandise and mana Neige brings me when goes after midnight!" A large man who wore black clothing and circular glasses spoke to himself.
He was fiddling with some machines in the back of this dark cave he was in. There were some large green tubes with some black wiring that hooked them all to a chair in front.
"With this, my deal with that Sally will be complete. Maybe I can even keep some of the mana for myself once we take it from them!" He cackled and coughed.
He walked back and forth with his hands together at the back.
"The only thing I worry about is those new people that joined the group right before the Royal Capital attack… they were brothers, but they give me the chills… I hope it's nothing and they don't interfere", he sat down on his own chair and opened a bag of chips to eat.
An hour or two had passed since the encounter with Sister Theresa at the end of Lucas's and Daisy's meal. Lucas had managed to find his way to Daisy's house with Grace and Sonia but as he did, he saw someone that he had no idea he would see.
"M-Mimosa? What are you doing here?" He wore a surprised expression on his face, and rightly so since this was completely out of the blue.
There was no way that Mimosa could tell him what she was up to, so she made up something on the spot. "H-hi, Lucas! I… I was out for a walk and just managed to find myself here… how weird, right?"
"I see…", Lucas began but then saw that there was a little red-haired girl on the royal's back. "Is that…?"
Mimosa sighed with a weak smile. "Yeah… she said her name was Alice right before she passed out. Luckily, Sister Theresa was with me earlier and told me where to take her".
FLASHBACK TO 30 MINUTES AGO:
Just after Lucas and Daisy left the restaurant in search for the four siblings, Mimosa had spoken to Noelle with the two of them still in their disguises. Asta and the others had headed upstairs to sleep while it was just Rebecca cleaning up.
"I think I'll head back to the base now. It's getting late and I didn't even tell anyone where I would be. They might get worried", she said as she stood up.
Noelle stood up as well and replied to her cousin. "So, tell me why you really came here first? Earlier you just said you wanted to hang out, but that's not really the case, is it?"
Noelle, weirdly enough, sort of realised what was up with the Vermillion. The ironic thing was that she herself was here for another reason, but she would never admit that.
Mimosa froze and started to blush. Though, since she felt so defeated at seeing how Lucas was happy with Daisy, she just told her everything. "Look… I like Lucas. I mean I like him… a lot! I don't want to feel jealous since it's not fair on either of Lucas or Daisy, but it's hard. Seeing them with each other just makes me feel weird, even though I want to see the both of them happy. It's just an odd situation really…", she sat back down and hunched over the table.
Noelle also sat back down and leaned towards the Vermillion. "I see. If you ask me, doing all this in your head is probably exhausting, right? You know that you like him, but that's only half of the story. We need to know how he feels about you. We're all only young and have plenty of time… and besides, Daisy said with a straight face, back at the Capital, that she didn't like Lucas like that, didn't she?"
Mimosa was slightly in shock with how Noelle answered her. There was no inkling of sarcasm or embarrassment from the royal.
"You're right, Noelle… I can't just make my mind go through all these mental gymnastics. Thank you!" She hugged her cousin.
Noelle acted like she didn't like the embrace as she painted an indifferent expression on her face, but in reality, she was happy.
Mimosa loosened her grip and asked: "Are you here for the same reason but for Asta?"
Noelle started to choke on air as she struggled to reply with how surprised she was at the question. "N-n-no! I… I was just here to s-see if Asta would get into any trouble! Yes, that's it since you know by now how reckless he is!" She deflected.
Contrary to the sound and calm advice she had given to Mimosa just a few seconds earlier, her response here showed she couldn't take her own advice.
The Golden Dawn mage stuttered in a surprise of her own. "O-okay… Well, I'll be off now!" She stood up, once again, and headed away.
As the royal left the restaurant, she started to walk towards where her broom was leaning on the wall when she felt a huge bump on the side of her leg.
"Ow, ow! What was that?" Mimosa held her leg and looked towards the floor. In a look of shock, she saw a small girl with long, flowing, orange hair fall to the floor. "A-are you okay?!"
The girl who had run into her held her face as she managed to hurt it from the impact. "I… I'm sorry, Miss. I was playing Hide and Seek with my siblings, and I was the seeker, but I couldn't find any of them!" She spoke in a loud tone.
Mimosa knelt down and gave the girl's cheek a little rub to soothe the pain she felt. "Shouldn't you be home at this hour? I'm sure your family is worried with you going out into the cold".
"Hmph. You're acting just like by big sister. Do all orange hair girls act so nicely?" The girl pouted and crossed her arms.
"That was a bit of an attitude change. You have orange hair yourself...", Mimosa thought. "Your sister must be a nice person. Why don't you tell me your name?"
"I guess... my big sister always told me to be nice to people. My name is Alice", she replied, still pouting.
On top of Alice's flowing hair, she had two pigtails that were knotted with a bright blue ribbon on both ends. Her eyes were red, so one could probably see them from far away. She wore a white and black checkered dress and some normal brown boots.
"So, Alice? Let's get you home. You can play your games in the morning", the royal smiled.
"I don't wanna… First, Big Sis leaves us for tonight and now you-!" Alice responded rudely but as she did, she saw a figure walk up behind Mimosa and it made her pass out in shock.
The figure in question was none other than Sister Theresa.
"Ah, so you found one of the rascals! Hahaha, so that's where Alice was!" Theresa laughed.
Mimosa turned around and greeted the nun who told her all about the situation.
"Daisy must be so relieved. Alice is only nine, yet she causes so much trouble! Here's her address so could you drop this troublemaker over?" Theresa noted down and walked away without even letting the Magic Knight answer.
Mimosa looked at the note and felt like there was nothing else she could do. "Well, it is what it is. What a coincidence that I'd run into one of Daisy's siblings though…".
"First, Big Sis leaves us for tonight"
"She seemed a bit jealous. Is she really attached to Daisy then?" Mimosa wondered. She picked up the small child and had her rest behind on her back. "Ooh, she's quite heavy, haha!" Mimosa smiled.
FLASHBACK OVER
"My guessing is that Alice was the one whose idea it was to play Hide and Seek", Lucas smiled as he sat outside the house on a bunch of steps. Grace and Sonia fell asleep, and they rested on both of the mage's shoulders.
Mimosa joined him and sat down, resting Alice's head on her lap.
The building was slightly bigger than most of the other houses that were around. The building was made of hard, grey stone and red bricks that were cobbled and packed together extremely tightly to give is structure. The entrance was a singular, light-brown door with two windows either side. The roof was a nice red brick as well with a singular chimney on the top. It also looked like it was a two-storey house.
"Oh, before I forget… Light Binding Magic: Coils of Trapped Light", the mage said softly and wrapped the orange-haired little girl in a cover of Light to make sure she would stay warm.
"You're good with kids, it looks like", Mimosa chuckled and raised her hand to her mouth.
"I am?" Lucas replied nervously. "I just feel like they should all be protected. Who knows what they could achieve in the future if they're given proper care".
Mimosa laughed. "Okay, now you're sounding like a parent! But I do understand. I guess for Daisy, they're her world and I'm sure she's so stressed over this".
"You bet I am!"
Lucas and Mimosa both turned around to the shout of a familiar-sounding voice that was in front of them. The person was Daisy and it looked like she was about to fall apart with how tired she was. There were dark bags that started to form under her eyes and there was also sweat falling from her forehead.
"Lucas-san… and Mimosa! Thank you… so much for helping me out with this. I owe you both an apology!" Daisy huffed as she could finally manage to relax.
The other two Knight protested but Lucas pointed out how they should all go inside to keep away from the cold. Lucas stood up slowly with both Grace and Sonia on his shoulder whilst Daisy took Chloe and also grabbed Alice from Mimosa who looked slightly worn out.
Daisy opened the door and Lucas almost tripped from placing his foot in the wrong place on the landing up the stairs. As he stumbled and got his footing back, he looked at Daisy awkwardly with a slight smile and a blush and the two mages started laughing with each other.
"… They really look good together…", Mimosa shook her head. She told herself she would stop thinking like that, but it was proving to be hard since her feelings were quite strong.
"O-on second thought… I think I'll head to the base since I'm extremely tired!" She quickly waved, turned, and ran off into the distance with her broom in tow.
"Mimosa, wai-! … And she's gone", Daisy commented.
"She's not usually that impulsive. I wonder if she's alright?" Lucas wondered.
Suddenly, the sound of crying came from one of the little siblings and it was from Chloe.
"Oh, we really need to get inside! Let's hurry". Daisy ushered Lucas in and locked the door behind them.
The inside of Daisy's house was extremely comfortable, especially since the Ice mage had put the fire on. The ground floor was an open plan space with a large beige rug on the floor with many different pillows on it to sit on or even lay on.
Since all of the siblings had managed to fall asleep, Lucas and Daisy tucked them in upstairs in their beds and made sure the windows were locked just in case they had the urge to leave once more. The two Knights then made their way downstairs and they rested against one of the walls on the side and sat on two pillows, one for each.
"That was… a very eventful day", Lucas sighed as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the solid wall behind him.
"You can say that again. I'm sorry for putting you through all that… Mimosa too", she copied Lucas and rested her tired head against the wall.
Lucas turned to face the ribbon-wearing Knight. "Stop apologising. We're friends so you shouldn't feel bad for asking for help, especially when family is involved".
Daisy started to blush, and her chest felt hot. It could have been because of what the Light mage said, or it could be because of the increasing heat from the fireplace. Or perhaps it was because of the worrying situation she was put in that she was feeling the after effects of it.
"Th-thank you, Lucas-san", she faced away from the mage and looked forwards. "I'm going to tell them off so much in the morning. It's my last day here tomorrow so I'll be leaving them in Sister Theresa's hands again", she said.
"You seem to have a lot of friends here that are willing to look after them. Sister Theresa and Rebecca are a few. I don't think there's much to worry about as long as you set them straight", Lucas replied.
"You're right. I can't help worrying about it though since I'm the only one they have in the family to look up to", she frowned.
"The only one…?" Lucas wondered.
The room grew eerily silent, and it was as if some intense cold air had gotten through with how it made Lucas feel. He quickly cringed and his whole body shivered, but in reality, there was no cold air. It was just how the mood had changed and he was about to find out why.
Daisy slowly stood up and put her hand out for Lucas to grab a hold of.
"Lucas-san… I want to show you something just outside the house. I also want to say something, and I feel like if I don't my mind is going to explode", Daisy said.
Lucas heard the Ice mage's voice tremble slightly and he gathered that whatever was eating her up inside would be bad in the long run if she didn't tell him, or anyone, about it. He saw how much her reaching hand was shaking as well and he couldn't ignore it.
"S-sure, whatever you want", Lucas replied, trying to be sensitive to the situation.
The two got up and faced towards the backdoor of the house. It was next to a bunch of cabinets and drawers with a sink attached to the wall. The window next to that door showed a park just outside and the two left the house, making sure that it was definitely locked.
Just a few steps over, behind a row of green bushes and large trees, sat an unused park. The area seemed to be devoid of any human contact for years since the benches, slides, and swings had rust on them. All this considered, Daisy sat in one of the swings and asked Lucas to join her.
"Are your sisters going to be fine?" Lucas asked as he sat in the swing on the right next to Daisy.
"They'll be fine. Look, you can see the upstairs lamp lighting up the hallway so if anyone leaves, I can see them", she pointed and then started swinging back and forth.
A few minutes had passed without them saying a single word to each other. As Daisy swung forwards, Lucas swung backwards, and they alternated between themselves in rhythm.
The cold wind was still blowing, but the two carried on.
"As I said earlier, I want to tell you something and I figured you'd want to know a few things too", she said calmly, still looking at the moonlight with her violet-tinted eyes having the image of the moon reflect in them.
Lucas gulped and said nothing. He felt as if he should let the Knight talk and if she wanted to rant or vent, then he would be here for her.
"I really hate to say it but... t's getting so difficult taking care of my siblings, you know?" She breathed in and exhaled heavily. "Sometimes I think if I'm not here then what would they do? They still don't know about the world and what really goes on and if I can't help them learn, then what…?" She said.
"What are you…?" Lucas thought. He was confused what was making her say this.
"It's not just about today. Thankfully, we were here for them but what if we weren't?" She exhaled again, swinging back and forth. "I know there are people here to take care of them, but my problem lies in wondering if anything happened to me, just like…", she stopped herself from carrying on that part of the conversation.
"Daisy. Wha-why are you saying all this?" Lucas asked softly, stopping his swing.
"You know, I come to this park every so often and swing by myself at times like this. This place… it's my favourite place in the world". She swung harder. "Keep swinging, Lucas-san. I want to show you something".
Lucas was still confused. Daisy seemed to be going off on a tangent and his questions weren't being answered. Though, he didn't protest and just followed the Blue Rose's lead.
The mages both swung in sync this time.
"What am I trying to look at?" Lucas asked.
"You'll see", Daisy replied.
After a while of gaining momentum, Lucas and Daisy both reached the required height that was needed to see what Daisy was wanting to show off.
The Dual mage's eyes widened in surprise with what he saw.
Since Daisy's house, as well as the park, was on a hilly area, they were above the rest of the town and could see all of the houses that were down below at night.
Normally, during the day, the sight they saw wouldn't have been as amazing and majestic, but as it was the night, they saw it in all its glory.
"Woah…", Lucas thought as his eyes lit up.
The two had risen above in their swings and saw the glowing lights of Nean. Lucas felt like as if he was moving in slow-motion as he took everything in. Outside of every building, and even inside, there were bright and glowing streetlamps, candles, lanterns, and other light sources all around. The sight was beautiful.
"Each and every source of light you see… I imagine that as a home – a family – for every one of those… and it makes me happy knowing there are families out there that love each other. It's not exactly the best-looking landscape, but to me, it's priceless", Daisy swung back and down.
"That's a very nice way to put it. I can see why a view like this would make you feel like that…", Lucas spoke calmly. He was still mesmerised by what he had seen.
"… but every time I see it… I also start crying…", the Ice mage sniffed.
Lucas saw this and immediately stopped swinging to try and comfort his friend.
"Lucas-san…", she grabbed her head with her two hands and started shaking it side-to-side. There was clearly something wrong and she had started to break.
"It's getting harder… and harder for me to keep up this façade where I make it seem everything is okay. You know, around seven years ago, I had a best friend called Cyrus and I would tell him everything. He made me feel like I could be so happy being myself, but then… I left him without saying anything. It was when…", she gulped as she couldn't say anything after.
"Am I a bad person, Lucas-san? I left someone who I called a best friend to live here, in Nean, with my siblings. I have to take care of them since I'm the only proper parental figure they have. That's why I send most of my Magic Knight's pay back here, so they can get a good education, clothes… just a good life… but, but…", the mage started crying.
The weight of being the only one to really take care of her siblings looked to be crushing her. Underneath her fun and jovial personality, lay years of frustration, sadness, and regret, that seemed to be piling up, further and further until she finally broke. Lucas was the first one she felt she could be this open with, and so she told him.
Lucas grabbed her two shoulders and looked into her eyes. "No. You're not a bad person at all. You're a wonderful friend, a wonderful Magic Knight, and a wonderful sister. They're so lucky to have you care for them", he kept giving her, or tried to give her, comfort.
"Besides, where are your parents? You shouldn't have had to leave your friend! They should be the ones to take care of your siblings. You're only 16 so you shouldn't have any of these worries!" Lucas added.
The cold breeze seemed to subside for a bit as the two Magic Knights spoke to one another. Daisy lifted her head up and her face was stained with tears that leaked all the way down to her blue skirt. The Ice mage looked back at Lucas for what seemed the first time since they came to the park, and she opened her mouth to reply to him.
"My mom is dead, Lucas-san…".
Many more tears started to fall from her face and the only thing Lucas could do now was to pull her in for a warm and lengthy embrace. He didn't want to ask about her mother's death and he didn't want her to relive it. In fact, he could relate in a way, and he sympathised with her feeling of loss.
To make sure he could help Daisy feel better and to even lift the weight of her mental stress, he said something that made the Ice mage's embrace stronger and tighter.
"I'll be here for your siblings as well. Don't you worry… about a single thing, Daisy", he had her rest her head on his right shoulder.
"I… I can't trouble you with that…!" Daisy sobbed.
"You're not troubling me at all. I'd actually like to take care of them. I feel like I'm already in Grace's and Sonia's good books!" He chuckled
"You're not going to be mad or annoyed? You have your own life to live, not to mention that the four of them are going to make you so annoyed!" The girl sniffed as she started to calm down.
"Maybe I'll be the 'cool one' out of the two of us while you can be the 'mean one'? Besides, it's not like I'll be looking after them 24/7 or anything. I'll just make sure you don't stress out as much". He laughed. "Crazy how we only met a few months ago and now this is happening".
Daisy had started to calm down but what Lucas just said made her cry again. He didn't say anything and just let it happen.
After a while, the two loosened their grip on each other. Daisy had wiped her tears from her face, and she had calmed down.
"So… are you gonna wipe the snot from your nose that you put on my shoulder when you were crying?" Lucas teased with a smirk. "I mean, this is a hefty amount!"
"LUCAS-SAN! Don't embarrass me like that…!" She quickly pulled out a few tissues and carefully cleaned his shoulder. "Honestly… maybe that's what I get for constantly teasing you…", she sniffed. Though, when she finished, she had the most genuine smile for the first time ever.
The two enjoyed a laugh together as they sat on the swings just looking at the moon.
"Honestly though... thank you so much", Daisy said with a weak smile.
She reached into her pocket and felt the silver-chained bracelet that she had bought from Code the other day and wanted to give it to Lucas as a present. However, as she was about to…
"ACHOO!" Lucas sneezed loudly.
Daisy let go of the bracelet and jumped out of the swings and went to Lucas. "You could be getting ill, you know? I'll set you up a bed in the house for tonight, so you just rest. We'll speak tomorrow", she smiled.
"I… can't… not in a girl's h-house!" Lucas spoke with worry.
Daisy face palmed and got closer to his face. "Lucas, it's far past midnight and your squad will understand. Now, how about you grow up… or is it… that you want to… sleep in the same bed as me?" She winked and touched her two fingers together while looking into Lucas's eyes.
"STOP IT!" Lucas blushed insanely and ran towards the house. "Fine, fine! Not in the same bed though!"
"Gotcha again!" Daisy smiled before running after him. She stopped midway though and looked back at the swings with a smile before carrying on back to the house. "Wait for me!"
NOTES:
A game of Hide and Seek turned into something pretty deep towards the end, right?
I hope I kind of portrayed stress and a bit of mental health here in the right way in terms of Daisy's character.
We all know what's about to happen in the next few chapters so let me show you my take on those events soon!
