Small rays of sunlight shone through my curtains and directly into my eyes. It felt like lasers were shooting right into them. I rubbed my eyes a little as I rolled onto my side, now facing Lucas . He was lying in my direction, bunching the covers up to his chest.I wasn't sure what time it was but it felt really early in the morning, so I decided against waking Lucas up . It was so relaxing having not to worry about anything. Lucas seemed so peaceful as he slept. Relived, I let out a small sigh and went back to sleep.
All of a sudden, I heard the covers below me start to rustle around restlessly. Quickly, I propped myself up onto my arm as my eyes slowly opened.
Lucas was on his hands and knees , tightly gripping his shirt as if he found it hard to breathe. Without warning, Lucas started to cough violently as I sat up to see what was going on.
"Lucas! Are you okay !?" I asked . Immediately, Lucas stopped coughing . He turned to me and gave me worried look as he panted heavily. I slid off of my bed and onto the floor beside Lucas .
"I-I-" Lucas stammered as he looked down , trying to avoid eye contact. "I-I'm Sorry." He continued.
Gently, I put my hand on Lucas' back as he continued to gasp for air.
"Are you Okay though ." I asked comfortingly .
"I'm fine ." Lucas snapped.
"I can always cancel with Ninten." I suggested . Lucas quickly turned to me.
"No!" He cried "I still want to do it ... no matter what." There was a short pause.
"What happened anyway?" I asked
"I had a nightmare... stupid I know ." Lucas admitted as he tried to hide his face in the covers .
"You don't need to be ashamed, everyone has nightmares." I reassured. Lucas sighed.
"You're right ."
"What was with that coughing ?" I enquired. Lucas didn't reply .
All of a sudden, Lucas sat up and tightly hugged me.
"It's just that ... I-It felt so ... real." Lucas whispered softly. I took a short breath while I was trying to think of something to say.
"Try and get some sleep Okay ." I advised as I stroked Lucas' hair. "I'll even stay with you until you can."
Slowly , Lucas laid back down and gave me a weak smile . Lucas' eyes gently fluttered shut as I took hold of one of his hands . Surprisingly, Lucas' palms were warm for once . He took a light grasp of my hand and turned onto his side that was facing me.
Occasionally, Lucas' hands would start to twitch , causing him to tighten the grip on my hand . I turned my head to the side , to look at the small clock that sat on top of my set of draws. It was eight in the morning.
Sometimes I could hear Mom's footsteps downstairs. She could trust me on my own so she didn't tell me when she was leaving for work. This was a good thing because I didn't want her to wake Lucas up .
Suddenly, Lucas tensed his hand up, causing his hold on me to be tighter. He was obviously scared of something, I just didn't know what. Lucas let out small whimpers as he brought my hand closer to his chest and buried his face in the covers more . He was trying his best to stay calm. Taking long deep breaths , which quickly became panicked gasps.
"Come on , last for one more hour ... please." I begged out loud .
All of a sudden, Lucas let go of my hand and turned his back to me. "Lucas ." I called . He let out a quiet whimper in response. "Lucas I know you're awake." Lucas didn't say anything but I knew something was up. "Luucaaaas ." I sung softly as I took my hands away and rested them on my lap .
Lucas was crying . He covered his face with his hand and his back to me . Slowly, I take hold of Lucas' hand , gently stroking it with my thumb as I bring it over to my lap. Lucas slowly turned over , now looking at me. The small beads of tears in his eyes glistened in the faint rays of sunlight, his big , cerulean eyes stared at me with confusion. Lucas' cheeks were scarlet red and his honey blonde hair seemed soft and silky . Suddenly, the tears started to slowly roll down Lucas' face as he continued to stare at me. His face looked worried, like he knew something bad was going to happen. Lucas' mouth hung open a little as he looked up at me and the streams of tears continued to run down Lucas' flushed out face.
Unexpectedly, Lucas quickly darted his eyes away from mine , breaking out eye contact. He looked down , ashamed . Gently , I put my hand carefully under Lucas' chin , lifting his head up slightly.
"Ness...I don't want to-" Lucas was about to explain but cut himself of.
"Everything is okay . You don't need to worry ." I reassured , putting both of my hands to Lucas' cheeks. "I will protect you ."
"But I can't protect you ... or even myself." Lucas cried as he turned his head to pull away.
"No , don't think like that ." I demanded
"But it's true isn't it." Lucas said softly.
"Oh Lucas ." I sighed as I brought his face closer to mine. "You said it yourself, we'll work together. We'll both do our best ." I whispered.
Before Lucas had a chance to reply , I gently put my lips to his and kissed him. Suddenly , Lucas took hold of my wrists. His touch sent tingles down my spine as a strong floral scent flooded the area. Lucas' eyes stared to lower however, he was still entranced by my eyes (Or the fact that we were still kissing). Eventually, Lucas' eyes were completely shut. I slowly pulled away. Seeing Lucas' smiling face was a huge relief.
"I love you ." He whispered
"I love you too dork." I laughed . Lucas giggled in response , resting his head back down onto the pillow.
"I bet you're gonna want a lie in ." I joked as I got to my feet.
"Correct." Lucas yawned, rolling onto his back.
"I'll only be downstairs if you need me ." I explained. Lucas gave me a sweet smile as he slowly shut his eyes.
Quickly, I shuffled out of the room, not wanting to disturb Lucas anymore.As soon as I got downstairs, I took a quick glance at the clock. "Only half eight." I sighed to myself. I have to admit I was pretty excited for Lucas' training . I wanted to see what Ninten would do in a situation like this. I let out a long sigh at the thought of everything I had to do. Everything I didn't want to do. As I let myself collapse onto the couch , my mind flooded with questions.
"I bet this is how Lucas constantly feels ." I thought to myself.
Eventually, I dosed if into a light sleep. I never usually dream of anything but today was an unexpected exception.
I could feel , dry , crispy grass under my hands as I lay on the ground , sprawled out . I woke up in a daze , even pushing myself up off of the ground felt like a lot of effort. As I looked up , I noticed an army of sunflowers surrounded me. Their heads were tilted down, looking straight at me as an aura of unease flooded my body. Even standing up, the sunflowers towered over me , intimidatingly. I was so confused. I had no clue where I was or where I was supposed to be going .
Strangely, a familiar scent became very prominent in the atmosphere as I looked around for a path. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one so I decided to weave in and out of the sunflower, hoping that I would eventually find something or someone.
Eventually, I came to a clearing , free of flowers. However, the grass was practically climbing up my legs as the wind started to push against me , taking me back a few steps.
All of a sudden, I managed to catch a glimpse of someone lying in the grass. They seemed to be unconscious. Quickly, I ran over to help . I kneeled next to the boy , who had his back to me. The boy's vibrant ginger hair seemed messy and the bottom of his yellow and blue shirt was ripped. "Hey...Are you Okay?" I asked . The boy didn't reply. I noticed that he wasn't breathing. Panicked, I quickly grabbed one of the boy's arms to check his pulse. To my surprise, his arm was covered in deep cuts and bruises. Luckily, his wounds weren't bleeding as I continued to check if he was alright.
He didn't have a pulse. The boy was dead.
I quickly shuffled back in fear as I could hear my heat pounding frantically. My legs felt weak as I tried to get up . Eventually, I got to my feet however, I was feeling very sick as I carefully edged away from the body. I started to cry uncontrollably as I ran in the opposite direction. I didn't know where I was going , nor did I care . I just wanted to get away. Without warning, my knees gave way and I dropped to the floor. Without any motivation to get up , I let myself pass out.
I woke up in a panic, trying to catch my breath and proses what had happened in my dream. I looked down at my hands . They were shaking. Unfortunately, my mind was filled with regret as I didn't even get a look at the boy's face before I ran away.
Suddenly, I turned to see Lucas lying on my shoulder, asleep. I was so glad to see him.
"Huh?" Lucas whispered tiredly. "Oh Ness... sorry I woke you up."
"Don't worry , you didn't wake me." I reassured.
"I came down to see you but you were asleep. Then I noticed that you only had ten minutes left to get ready." Lucas explained "Then I kind of ... uh ." Lucas started to blush. I smiled in response.
"Wait ... ten minutes!" I repeated in shock.
Swiftly, I got up from the couch and ran to the stairs.
"You don't mind staying down here for a few minutes, do you ?" I asked
"I'll be fine."Lucas giggled. I continued to run up the stairs and into my room.After I had got changed, I let out a sigh in relief.I didn't care if I looked like I had only just gotten up , at least I was dressed .without warning, I heard a knock at the door from downstairs. I don't know why but I didn't want Lucas to open the door. I guess I was still a bit cautious after what happened in my dream.
By the time I had got downstairs,Lucas was only half way to the door. As quick as I could , I ran in front of Lucas , stopping him front opening the door. I gave him an awkward smile as I had my back to the door.In response, Lucas opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but instead he shrugged and dismissed it. I quickly opened the door , reveling Ninten waiting impatiently.
"Took you long enough." He complained as he crossed his arms. As soon as I saw Ninten I didn't feel bad about how messy my clothes were because he looked worse than me. His dark hair stuck out wildly. It obviously hadn't been brushed. Ninten's eyes looked dreary and lifeless and the fact that they had dark circles under them didn't help either.
"So this is the result of your date with Ana." I joked. I heard Lucas giggle a little behind me as Ninten gave me a confused look.
"What?" Ninten said in a tone that made it seem like he had no clue about what I was referring to.
"Your date with Ana..." I reminded
"Oh... y-yeah." Ninten agreed. However, it still seemed like he had no idea.
"Are you feeling okay? I mean you don't look it ." I asked "we can cancel if you want , Lucas wasn't really feeling great either." I continued to explain.
"No!" Lucas exclaimed. Ninten and I stared at him in shock. "I-I mean ... we don't have to do it ... if you don't want to."
"No, I'm fine. I just had a late night ... that's all." Ninten reassured. It was obvious that Ninten wasn't himself today , I was just really curious to know why.
"Come on , lets get on with it then!" Lucas complained impatiently.The way he said it , I couldn't tell if he was eager or just wanted to get it over and done with .
We all left the house silently and walked up to the top of the hill , where there was a nice flat surface.Lucas had run ahead, leaving Ninten and I together.
"Remember what I said." I recalled seriously.
"Yeah...if course I do."Ninten replied solidly.
"And don't use Psi against him, because then it would be unfair." I explained
"Okay."Ninten answered quietly as we approached the top of the hill.
"Lucas , this is just going to be a small fight to see what you can already do Okay." Ninten informed
"Okay, that's fine." Lucas smiled happily. The two went to the opposite sides of the battlefield. Ninten to my left and Lucas to my right. Both of them stood and stared at each other .
The atmosphere was now tense.
"Go on , do something!" Ninten snapped angrily. Lucas edged back in fear. "Come on coward !" I know this seemed mean but I didn't want to intervene so I just let Ninten do his thing.Carefully, Lucas took a few steps forward.
Without warning, Ninten charged straight for Lucas. Unfortunately, Lucas was frozen with fear , he didn't know what to do. Before I knew it , Ninten had pinned Lucas down to the grounds. He had a tight grip around Lucas' wrists as Lucas tried to kick Ninten away. Sadly , this caused Ninten to sit on Lucas' chest. Now making it impossible for Lucas to get free and making it harder for him to breath. This wasn't Ninten at all, something was definitely wrong. I didn't want to step in ... Lucas said he could handle himself right.
Violently, Ninten grabbed Lucas' wrists and began to dig his nails into them. All of a sudden, Lucas cried out In pain as the cuts Ninten had made started to draw blood. That was it . I had to step in .
Quickly, I ran over to Lucas and Ninten . However I was stopped halfway by Ninten's threatening stare. "Don't... this isn't your fight." Ninten warned
"But this is too far !" I explained. Unfortunately, Ninten ignored me and continued to stab his nails into Lucas' wrists.
I couldn't stop myself. I bolted for Ninten and forcefully pushed him off of Lucas.
"What are you doing!?" I asked Ninten as I tried to keep him to the ground for as long as I could.
"Ness stop it ! You said he could fight for himself." Ninten replied.
"But you're hurting him." I cried as Lucas got to his knees.
"So what!" Ninten shouted as he pushed me away as he charged for Lucas , tackling him to the ground once again.
"Come on , at least try kind of hard." Ninten complained. As he said this , I could tell something inside of Lucas snapped. Lucas kicked Ninten off and in panic ran away as far as he could.
Slowly, Ninten got to his feet and gave Lucas a menacing grin. My heart was pounding like crazy as I stood up. My knees felt weak and a familiar sick feeling flooded my body. Ninten started to slowly walk towards Lucas. In fear , Lucas edged back carefully. Without warning, Ninten started to run .
I had failed myself. I used Psi. Lucas was in danger though and I couldn't just watch.
I had summoned a shield , a small one that stood in front of Lucas.i sighed in relief however, the shield wouldn't last long.Lucas turned to me , giving me a look of fear and confusion as Ninten was brutality punching the shield , trying his best to break it. Gradually, large cracks started to appear on the shield. Soon after that it broke, shattering like glass.
"Lucas! watch out!" I warned as Lucas was stuck , paralyzed with terror.Suddenly , Ninten pushed Lucas by the shoulders , slamming his back against a nearby tree. Lucas' legs gave way causing him to collapse to the ground, leaving Ninten towering over him.
"You really are pathetic." Ninten insulted.
"Stop it , please." Lucas begged "I know what they've done to you... you're going to end up like my brother." Lucas' voice started to waver.
"But at least I won't die by the hands of my brother."
I was so confused. How on earth did Ninten know about Lucas' brother? There was no way he could have found out.Lucas was crying now.
"Stop crying!" Ninten shouted, causing Lucas to flinch back.
"I'm gonna-"
"Lucas stop!" I called as I ran over to them. I knew what Lucas was going to say . I couldn't let him get so angry that he would think like that.
I shoved Ninten to the ground before helping Lucas up and pulling him into a tight hug. Ninten got up off of the ground steadily. He folded his arms and tilted his head up slightly, looking down at us in disappointment.
"You caused all of this , Lucas." Ninten said calmly.
"No, no I didn't ... I didn't do anything." Lucas replied quietly, taking a grip on my shoulders.
"Exactly!" Ninten beamed happily "you could have saved your mother, you could have saved Claus, you could have saved your friends... if you didnt pull the needle."
"I HATE YOU!" Lucas screamed as the streams of tears became heavier.
All of a sudden,, Lucas pushed me away and charged for Ninten. Luckily, I managed to grab Lucas' wrist in time to stop him.
"Oh Ness... stop ruining the fun." Ninten sighed sadly as Lucas took a couple of steps back.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked in disgust whilst I pulled Lucas back into a hug.
"Ugh, just stop getting in the way." Ninten complained.
All of a sudden, my knees felt weak and gave way. I could feel my eyes start to shut as I fell onto my knees tiredly..
"Ness! Are you okay?" Lucas asked caringly.
"Now it's just you and me ." Ninten grinned. I started to feel dizzy as I tried my best to stay awake. Ninten dashed towards me. Without warning, Lucas Jumped in front of me , with his arms out.
"Lucas...don't." I gasped quietly before passing out.