Kindling Flame

7. My Precious Family

The longer time dragged on, the more Rhiannon fidgeted. She eventually could not stand sitting, so she paced up and down the aisle. She chewed on her bottom lip so much that it started to feel a little raw. What was taking Aster so long? Was Lucifer giving her too much trouble? 

She approached the exit several times, but Aster's disappointed expression stopped her from leaving the aquarium. 

'ARGH! Where was my self-control when I needed it most?' She scratched her head and messed up her hair. 

Unable to take it any longer, she called Darius for help. When it really mattered, he was still the most reliable one and the big brother whom Aster listened to. If he told her to go to Aster, Aster would not scold her for it. 

"Find Aster. Now. I'll be right there." He said as soon as he received the updates.

"Got it!" 

The two of them wanted to trust in Aster's capabilities but it was also a fact that she was the most vulnerable of the two of them. So, they could not just leave her alone like that.

Rhiannon's heart dropped when she could not find Aster or Lucifer anywhere outside the aquarium. Then, she recalled how Lucifer had asked her to go to the hall.

"No, please, no." She immediately relayed the information to Darius, before taking off towards the hall. "No, no, no, no!" Rhiannon mumbled to herself with tears already flowing down her face.

In them center of the hall, Aster stood on a makeshift podium, while Lucifer denounced her. Her supposed misdeeds and the relevant evidence was put on the screen for all to peruse.

Before long, she was no longer looking down at her hands but at herself, standing with her head bowed low in the middle of a huge crowd. Lucifer's voice and the crowd's jeers were unclear and distant. It was as if she was listening to them with waterlogged ears. 

The sudden impact of the first rotten tomato hitting her back brought her consciousness back into her body. Before she could react, another hit, then another. Aster kept her eyes closed and occasionally shielded her face while the spoiled fruits and vegetables rained down on her. The stink of rotting produce filled her nose and mouth. Her throat tightened as she fought the urge to vomit.

'How smart. He won't get into trouble with this level of bullying.' The tools he provided the crowd with was not dangerous enough to warrant any serious punishment. If he seriously carried out a stoning session, then that would be a different matter. 'Now, I just have to wait this out.'

Aster was once again drifting off into a dream-like state when a loud bang drew her attention to the hall's entrance. The double doors had been flung open and two individuals stood there, panting.

"Big sis!" Rhiannon's screech made many drop whatever they were holding to cover their ears. 

"What's going on!" Darius' bellow intimidated anyone close enough to him.

The entire crowd stared at the two newcomers in silence. Then, a few of those nearer to her siblings filled them in as if they were simply ignorant, the gears in Aster's head churned. She could not let her siblings draw the ire back onto them and her siblings would definitely not think clearly after seeing the sorry state she must be in now.

Darius was already grabbing onto a boy's collar, poised to punch the daylights out of him.

Rhiannon had stepped forth too. "All of you are so fucking stu-"

"Rhia. Big brother." The voice was almost a whisper but it was enough to draw her siblings' attention, which prompted the crowd to turn their attention back onto her.