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Lumine was walking with her brother in the now-ruined street of Khaenri'ah. The war destroyed the already-struggling city, leaving the population to its own after the king was killed.
She hid behind him to protect herself from any unseen danger, “Lumine.”
Lumine looked at her brother, her own eyes locking with his, “Yes, brother…?” Aether sighed and took a handkerchief and gently wiped the dirt off her face, “Try to look out. I don't want you to be hurt again.” Lumine nodded in response, he patted her head like her mother used to do, “I'll be back soon. I'll ask if we can stay there.” He pointed at a building behind him. Lumine looked at him and then at the building behind him, “Stay here, ok?”
Lumine nodded again, he walked away.
Lumine looked around while fidgeting her dirty dress’ hem. The world looked so scary and big to her, she remembered when her mom used to walk with her in the street to buy groceries before the war.
She noticed a young boy, maybe as young as her, his indigo hair looked like the head of a jellyfish that she used to see from the books that the local librarian gave her. He had his eyes closed but it was clear he wasn't from here. She shifted in her place unsure what she should do, should she go to him and talk to him? Ugh, but her brother will scold her. His protectiveness annoyed her sometimes.
She took a deep breath and walked towards him.
“H-hi..” She greeted shyly, she raised her hand, attracting his attention towards her and he opened his eyes. She felt herself slightly blush. Uh… why is she like this?! Her eyes widened slightly in awe, when she saw his eyes. He was beautiful, his eyes reminded her of a starry night, “Uh… oh… I am Lumine, is everything OK?”
The boy nodded, “Yes, I am fine.” He smiled softly, “I am Kabukimono.”
“K-kabu–kimono?” Lumine stuttered, he chuckled, “You can call me Kuni.” He proposed, a proposal that she gladly took. She had never heard such a name and she heard a lot of weird names! Lumine looked around, before looking at him again, “Are you… alone?” She said while walking closely to him until they were at arm's length. He nodded, “You don't seem from Khaenri'ah. Where are you from?”
“Oh… I am from Inazuma.” He answered.
“Really? I only saw it in some books. I always wanted to go there.” Lumine stated, she always wanted to go away from this place but due to her young age (and because she can't simply leave Aether behind), she stayed here, “Ah! I always visit my mom there.” Lumine was almost jealous about how lucky he was, she wanted to see it! Those beautiful landscapes and pretty cherry blossom trees, but that made her think about something: “Why are you here?” She blurted out, “I-I didn't mean–”
He smiled gently, “Don't worry! I understand, I am here because I wanted to visit my aunt who lives here. I didn't see her for a while.” He explained. He was so nice and understanding, unlike the kids she met. Lumine nodded, “I hope you'll have a nice time with her.”
“Thank you.” Kuni answered.
Lumine was about to speak again but Aether's voice interrupted her, “Lumine! Come here!”
“I need to go. See you soon!” She waved at him before running towards the entrance of the building where Aether was standing.
After that, her days were always the same: she got up, ate, studied and played with the other children. She never understood if this building was an orphanage or something else. But it didn't matter, what mattered was that she and her brother were safe and the children were actually nice (well, they didn't throw rocks at them, did they?), not only that but she made a new friend: Kuni. He was nice, she always talked with him and brought food to him to eat, they have become friends! Maybe, they will be friends forever!
~☆~
That was only a wish. He knew that while watching her from far away, as she was taken away from her kin, trained to be a soldier who only haunted his kind. Ironic. Teaching a harmless bird how to fight. She changed, a lot. He changed too, his identity and abandoned his family as they did to them, but that's another story for another time in the future.
He looked human, so no one suspected me he was a ‘witch’ or whatever they called him. Humans are weird, ironic since his behaviour is similar to one, much more because he loved one. He loved her. So he watched from far away, watching in silence as they torn off the wings from the beautiful bird until it was enough!
Such innocent bird should be loved.
Protected.
He loved her, after all. He was the remaining light that made him think the world was still beautiful.
That's why he took her from those disgusting humans. He didn't care if she was against it, it was for her own good, after all. He walked down the hallway, he opened the heavy metal door and there she was– his eyes sparkled up, he walked towards her chained form and crouched in front of her unconscious figure. He cupped her face between his hands and gently caressed one with his thumb to not wake her up, he covered her with the blankets. He smiled softly and stepped away, he looked at her for one last time, before walking out the room, closing the door behind him.