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"So...a de-aging spell?" Rikka questioned.
"Exactly," the mage- Isabella Klondike, Joe's older sister -said. "It was...an accident, I swear." Well...this wasn't the best first impression to one of Joe's siblings. He clearly thought so too, with his seemingly endless patience appearing far less endless with his sister.
"Well, since it's an accident, you surely can fix it. Right, Isa?" Isabella laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. "You're going to fix this," Joe said, leaving no room for argument.
"Of course I can fix this, Jojo!" Isabella cried. "I'm Elaris's top mage! It may just take a little bit. It's bound to wear off in a few days...but I could find something to speed it up. Though he's super cute and tiny this way, hahaha- ah okay okay geez!" Joe pulled on his sisters cheek as she tried to make light of the situation. "Anyways...Ira should be fine. He's just younger...and his mind likely matches his current age, with his mental state and memories."
"Well...that explains some things," Regina said. She gestured towards the pile of blankets shaking in the corner.
"The best thing to do is to keep him calm," Isabella continued. "Mercenare powers can be triggered by emotions and are less stable when they're younger. He can cause a lot of damage like this."
"So we're on babysitting duty?" Regina grumbled.
"It's probably better if you do it," Joe said. "I tried and...he ran away from me." Joe looked away, looking a little hurt.
"I doubt it's your fault," Rikka assured him. "You know Ira's not fond of adults."
"Yeah, right now you're a stranger." Mana tried to comfort him but that just seemed to cause an arrow to pierce the man.
"I suppose you're right," Joe concluded, defeated. Alice walked over to the bundle and crouched down, the others gathering around but making sure to keep distance.
"Hello, Ira," Alice spoke gently. "We're your friends. We want to say hi."
The shivering halted for a moment. A piece of blanket was peeled back for a big, teary, amber eye to peak through. He took in the crowd before closing the blankets and retreating deeper. From outside they heard a small voice.
"Liars. Mercenares don't have friends. Especially not with humans. Go away!" Alice glanced up at the others. Mana snapped her fingers and mouthed "be right back".
When Mana came back, she had Ai in her arms. She crouched in Alices place, holding up Ai like a doll.
"Hewwo Ira! I'm Ai! I'm your friend! I have wings too!" The blankets peeked open once more. The eye scrunched up, as though insulted.
"I'm not a baby! Go away!" Another failure.
They tried multiple tactics. Aguri offered sweets (he had just reached out and swiped it from her hands), Makoto had offered to try and sing but Ira burrowed even deeper. Regina had suggested they just rip the blankets away but that was probably the worst way to go about it. Isabella said they need to keep him calm, taking away a safe space was the last thing to do.
Rikka crouched down. Nothing seemed to work, so she didn't know what she should do. "Hi, Ira. You probably don't know me...I'm Rikka."
The blankets parted again and Ira's eye fixed on her. His eye widened. Slowly, he pulled the blanket down a little more.
"Are you...an angel?" Ira asked. Rikka paused, hearing Regina giggle behind her.
"I suppose that's what you call love throughout the ages," Alice said.
"An...angel?" Rikka questioned.
"That's correct!" Mana cut in. "Rikka's an angel! A super friendly angel!"
Ah...that's what she was doing. Rikka turned towards Ira and offered a small smile. Ira's eye seemed to soften just a little. His face peeked through a little more but he still remained tightly hidden. Rikka could see a bit of his face. His pale skin gave way to edges of black and blue, one of his eyes was slightly closed, a deep cut slashed above his eyelid, and there seemed to be a freshly covered scab on his forehead.
Rikka's chest ached. She reached forward and Ira pushed even further into the blankets. "I won't hurt you. We all want to help you.” She kept her hand extended for Ira to grab. Ira’s eye looked her up and down.
Slowly, his small hand emerged. Rikka did a double take when she noticed his arm covered in bandages. Finally, their hands touched. Rikka smiled and Ira looked away.
Despite emerging from his cocoon, Ira still insisted on being draped with at least two blankets, his head hung low and his hands gripping onto the edges to keep them wrapped around him. He still remained distant from them all, especially Joe.
Every time he came over to talk to one of them, Ira would scurry away and it would take awhile to coax him out again.
After finally pulling him out for the fifth time, the Precure decided to try and take turns in helping the little Ira.
Mana looked around until her eyes landed on some blank paper. She reached into the bag she brought for Ai and pulled out a pack of crayons.
”Do you want to draw?” Mana asked. Ira tilted his head.
They all ended up sitting at a small table, drawing pictures. Ira’s lines were shaky and he seemed at a loss for what he should draw.
”Just draw things you’ve seen,” Rikka suggested, holding up a picture of a frog. Ira seemed to think before grabbing a bunch of black and grey crayons. When he lifted his drawing to show everyone, it was the image of a dark and dreary Colosseum like building. The drawing practically screamed: something a possessed child in a horror movie would draw.
The Precure exchanged glances.
”Maybe we should move onto something else,” Alice suggested. “I’ll make tea and cookies.”
Alice had somehow brought the material for tea and cookies (her bag was endless it seemed). Once they were presented, Ira’s eyes shimmered. He glanced warily and it seemed he would only take one when he thought no one was looking.
”You can take as much as you want,” Rikka assured him. Ira paused, looking down at the cookie he “stole” before grabbing a hand full of and stuffing them into and blanket, getting crumbs all over his clothes.
Apparently, Joe had found some of his childhood clothes given Ira’s hadn’t shrunk with him. But even for kids clothes, those hung loosely on Ira.
“You must really like them,” Rikka said. Ira puffed his cheeks.
”They’re okay,” Ira grumbled as he continued to stuff his face. He even took some from Rikka’s and Mana’s plates.
As he grabbed more, Ira knocked over Alice’s tea cup, causing it to spill onto the table. Ira immediately froze and, before anyone could even move, curled into a ball and hid his face.
”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…it was an accident,” he spoke softly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry sorry sorry- I didn’t mean to-
”It’s okay.” Alice picked up a handkerchief and wiped it up. “See? All clean now.” Ira slowly lifted his head to see the clean spot and a very calm, not at all angry, Alice.
He continued to eat in silence, as did everyone else.
Aguri and Regina had decided to lighten the mood by bringing some of their stuffies from home. Ira seemed to like the feel of them, but the moment he came across Aguri’s large otter, he screamed and ran behind Rikka.
”Ira? What’s wrong?”
”Sea suckers! I saw one once! They used it once! Kill it! Kill it kill it! It’ll kill you!” As funny as it may sound to have a child demanding they kill a stuffed animal, the desperation in his voice and his hysterical cries made it infinitely less funny.
It took tossing the stuffy out the window to show it was “dead” and more tea and cookies to calm down.
”I suppose it’s my turn,” Makoto muttered. “What should I do…” she crouched down. “Do you play any games?”
Ira blinked a little. “Games…?”
”Like…tag? Or hide and seek?”
Ira glanced around and shook his head.
”Well, let’s play hide and seek then.”
Once discovering what it meant, Ira decided to be “it”, and insisted they turn off the light.
No one knew why but they were playing by his rules so…
It turned out, for an eight year old, he was scarily good at it. Scaling walls, surprise attacks, crawling on all fours like some deranged creature (they had discovered that one by hearing Regina’s blood curdling scream down the hall, followed by Ira’s childlike cackle).
The Precure sat down on the couch, exhausted. Somehow this was more exhausting than handling Ai…
Ira was now on the floor, looking over everyone’s drawings. The pictures of flowers, animals, sunsets looked out of place next to his grim drawing.
Without saying anything, Ira picked up Mana’s drawing of a flower and ripped it.
“Huh?” Mana shot up. “What are you doing?”
Ira didn’t answer as he continued to rip the paper. Rikka took a closer look and noticed he wasn’t destroying the picture, just ripping off the blank pieces. The others watched in curiosity as he did the same to others. Once done, Ira placed all the pictures onto his dreary picture. His eyes lit up and showed the picture to them.
"It's very nice," Mana said. The others nodded in agreement. Ira beamed.
The door opened, Isabella and Joe entering. "I figured it out!" Isabella declared proudly. Ira jumped and scurried behind the couch. "Oops...sorry kid. Ahem, anyways, I found the cure. There's a bunch of de-aging spells, and I think I discovered the right one."
"What's the cure?" Alice asked.
"It's comfort!" Isabella said simply, clearly not noticing the confused looks. When no one answered, she cleared her throat. "I was using a vulnerability spell. My boots were frozen so I intended to use it to soften them, then the kid jumpscared me. You weren't kidding when you said he walks quietly, Jojo. So, it reverted him to his most vulnerable state. To cure it, he needs to be completely comfortable."
"Well, we've been doing that," Regina grumbled. "He seems pretty fine with us. Why isn't he back to normal yet?"
"With you guys, but there's one more person, I think." All eyes fell on Joe.
"Okay...so how do we do this?" Makoto asked, glancing at Ira who was still hidden behind the couch.
There must be a way to feel comfortable around Joe. Ira had done it before. Though, Rikka knew it would be harder. Ira had never gone into much detail, but she knew his suspicion towards adults came from trainers called the Disciplinarians.
Rikka had managed to gently coax Ira out, just enough so that instead of hiding behind the couch, he was pressed against the side of it, one hand clinging to Rikka.
"Ira, this is our friend, Joe," Rikka explained. Ira casted him a wary look.
"I'm not his friend," Ira grumbled. "Adults are mean."
"Does he look mean to you?" Alice asked, gesturing to Joe who offered a small wave. Ira shifted in his seat.
Despite their best efforts, Ira wouldn't open up. Somehow, along the way Jonathan ended up being left alone with Ira.
Ira kept glancing at Jonathan in the same way one would eye up a hungry predator. Jonathan sighed. They had just gotten the awkwardness between them cleared up...now it felt like he was back at square one.
“You don’t have to be scared,” Jonathan assured him.
Ira looked away. “Why would I be friends with an adult? Adults are mean.”
”I’d like to think I’m not,” Jonathan said, picking up a cookie. “But…I guess I get where you’re coming from. I thought all Mercenares were mean.”
”Most are,” Ira muttered. “Mean, nasty, scary, but some aren’t…that bad. I’m not. I’m not gonna be. I won’t be mean and scary.”
Jonathan’s hand twitched. In a way, Ira had become like them…for a time. But he wasn’t going to break this little boys spirit.
”Do you want to know something? You saved my life.” Ira’s eyes widened.
”I did?”
”Mhm. I almost died…but you saved me from the edge. You were very, very brave, and very kind.”
”But…” Ira tried to talk. “I…how? We can’t do that. We don’t…save people. We just…fight. That’s what we’re good at.” Jonathan frowned, he reached out his hand but paused.
“You…are so much more than a mean, scary weapon. You’re strong, yes, but you’re also kind, determined, you work hard for everything and…I have no doubt you’ll do amazing things in the future.”
Ira stared at him with wide eyes. Jonathan held out his hand again, asking for permission. When Ira didn’t move away, he gently ruffled Ira’s hair. “And trust me, we’ll all be there with you. Supporting you and growing with you.”
Ira moved Jonathan’s hand from his head but held onto it. “You’re not lying right? All adults do is lie.”
”I won’t lie. I mean it.”
Suddenly, the room was engulfed with smoke.
”So it finally worked.” Rikka sighed in relief. Ira had himself draped over Rikka, back to his usual self.
”You missed me, angel?” Ira poked her cheek and Rikka lightly swatted at him.
”I think I preferred you as a kid,” Makoto said. “Less irritating.”
“Hey, I may be irritating but at least I’m funny. I hear trauma can do that.”
“We’re all just glad you’re back to normal,” Alice cut in to stop an argument from breaking out.
“Yeah, we’d be on babysitting duty for forever if you were stuck.” Regina shuddered at the thought.
”I’m glad to be back to. It means I won’t need to catch up with you guys. I’d prefer to grow up with you guys.” Ira casted a glance at Joe. “Besides, old man, you already have your hands full without me being a little kid.”
Joe scratched the back of his head. “I suppose that’s true. Though it’s a pity I never got the chance to pick you up. You were adorable at that size.”
Ira felt his face turn red. “Old man!” he sputtered. He immediately pulled away from Rikka and began shoving him out of the room, Joe laughing as he did.
”What’s so wrong? Don’t I have my right as a father to embarrass you now?”
“Shut up! Go away! Stupid jerk!” Ira shoved him out and slammed the door. He quickly returned to Rikka’s side. “Now, someone I wouldn’t mind commenting on my cuteness-“
”You were exhausting,” Rikka responded immediately. Ira placed a hand over his heart.
”No need to wound me while I’m down. And after you spent all afternoon pampering me.”
”Just because you were a child before doesn’t mean you get to act like one now,”Rikka said. “But if you want, I do have pictures.”
Ira froze as Rikka started to open her phone.
”No no! I don’t need that! Delete those! Delete those now!”
”No wait! Send these to me!” Regina demanded. “I’ll make them your wallpaper, Ira!”
“Cruel, all of you are so so cruel,” Ira muttered in defeat, leaning against the wall.