Roses (Black Clover)

Chapter 21 - Scars

So in general, the horses were found and they had managed to get to their destination and back. Maria chatted all the way, but Klaus and Luciel never actually listened only humming and answering vaguely when needed. 

Once they got to their destination Maria spoke for a few hours with different people and had dragged the two boys off to the shopping district. Luciel purchased a few things that will not be spoken of at the moment with the use of money found in Langris' stolen wallet..

Somewhere off at the base, Langris pats his pockets and sneezes a bit. Lori raises a brow, recalling the time Luciel stole Langris' wallet. She should probably tell William about that, or at the very least tell the rebellious teen*cough cough* Luciel *cough* to use his own money and stop stealing Langris' wallet. 

Although does Luciel even have his own money? Yeah, he gets paid by Golden Dawn, but Lori has never actually seen Luciel spend his own money.. Does he just stockpile it somewhere? Does he go out in the middle of the night to just binge shop? Lori does not know, but she now has herself curious about her teammate's spending habits. 

After Maria chats.. and chats.. and gossips.. basically everyone in the city knew Luciel and Klaus were 'dating'. They buy a new carriage, as Maria couldn't stand riding in a once destroyed carriage(plus she was actually pretty smart as she would just end up spending a bunch of money on repairs if she kept it). So she bought a new carriage and they head off on their merry way! 

The journey was less exciting this time around, with Maria just going on and on about everything that she had learned about what's going on in  Port Conuever. Nothing much intriuged Klaus, although Luciel seemed quite interested in the gossip. 

Apparently he knew a few people that the Duchess spoke about, and Klaus feels likes Luciel would be taking notes if he had the supplies to do such.. Soo.. they make it back safely, their reputations a bit.. tarnished.. But otherwise, so or less, unharmed. Although Luciel wasn't very 'unharmed' with Klaus doing basic first aid. 

The duchess was dropped back off at one of her many mansions, and Luciel and Klaus were stuck walking back to the base. They had decided to make idle conversation while walking, so it wasn't exactly idle conversation. "What a bitch, huh?" Luciel hums, flicking his green gaze over to Klaus. 

"I don't feel comfortable answering that implied question," Klaus responds slowly, keeping pace with Luciel as his pride would not allow otherwise. "Anyways.. I have a question.. for you.." Klaus states, choking a bit on his words as he remembers something in the carriage when tending to Luciel.

"Yeah, what is it?" Luciel turns to look at Klaus, raising a curious brow at the blue haired teen.

Klaus takes a deep breath, before asking, "whenever I was fixing you up.. I had saw scars.. on your arms.. and I was wondering.. how you got them..?" Klaus' voice fades off as Luciel stops mid-step and closes his eyes a bit and gently running his fingers along his neck.

"Why does anyone scar, they get hurt.." Luciel states softly, closing his eyes and continues walking, although it was a bit of a dragged step.

"Sorry," Klaus states lowly, feeling a bit bad for making Luciel's mood take a 360. The rest of the walk was silent to say the least. They had walked through the gates of the Golden Dawn base and had to report immediately to William's office. 

Luciel stood back as Klaus gave the report, William raised a brow at the lack of sass from Luciel but shrugged it off and told Luciel to head over to the medical wing and told Klaus to get cleaned up. 

Luciel laid on the medical cot, the nurse, Jennifer, had yelled at Luciel for being an idiot and then sent the very depressed Luciel back to his room for resting. Luciel did not rest up that much, his mind was off wandering. Wandering back to killing that kid. Back to how he got his scars. 

Those were dark times that he didn't want to talk about, and he just wanted to talk to his brother, Akio again. He missed his brother, and he required speaking to Akio right about now. After moping around in his bed for a bit Luciel gets up and begins to dig around in his closet frantically. 

Langris, Klaus, and Lori were all in the dining hall. Langris was questioning Klaus about the mission inbetween bites. Lori was off in her own little world at the moment. Something was missing. It was strangely quiet and Klaus' face was strangely not-red. Then it had clicked in her mind. Luciel was missing.

He typically doesn't eat, as he's too tired by then and presumably already ate. Although he usually was at the table whenever they ate. To make fun of Klaus and Langris. Lori stands up abruptly, "I'm going to go check on Luciel," she announces as she walks off briskly in a strong pace.

As Lori walks down the hallway, there is an uncertain feeling that grows in the pit of her stomach, and her already fast pace turns into a jog as she slides to a stop right in front of Luciel's door. 

She grabs the knob and turns it, only for it to stop abruptly. It's locked, dammit. She pounds her fist on the door, screeching through the door, "open this door right now, LUCIEL KARU! OR GOD HELP ME I WILL KNOCK THIS DOOR OPEN!!" Her voice grows with worry with each passing word. 

She hears the door click, and it flies open. Luciel's on the other side, "c-calm down.. L-Lori.." He chuckles dryly. Lori stares at the boy for a few moments, calming down at the sight of him. Although she quickly realized that things with him are not okay. Tears stain his face, his hair, a mess and not even pulled together. His eyes, red with pain. 

Looking back into the room, she sees droplets of red littering the floor. Luciel's currently wearing a coat, but blood is very clearly soaking through the blue material. Without saying a word, Lori pulls the pained boy into a hug. To which, he doesn't even have the strength to lift his arms anymore.