章 354: [69.1] A Child Who Never Sleeps
"Reika… I miss you…"
I felt a twinge of sadness take root in my chest.
Tears formed in my eyes as I forced them closed, too afraid to see only darkness once more.
"Cyrus… I think… I think I miss you so much… It's killing me."
As soon as those words were spoken, I felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness.
Ah… I see.
I… I want to go back.
I want to see him again…
"Reika… Please wake up."
My voice croaked, "Cyrus… I hope you're still safe."
"Reika…"
A pair of hands gently embraced my face, caressing it as it glided over my skin. It was so comforting, my tears stopped.
But…
These hands…
"Cyrus… Why do your hands feel like a child's?"
I opened my eyes in surprise to see Cyrus over me. However, as he smiled at me, I heard two other voices echoing out.
"Mother! Mother needs to wake up!"
"D-Don't call her Mother so freely. She doesn't like that. She prefers we call her Master…"
"Mother! Mother!" The tiny hands started slapping me, "Mother wake up! Lene is bored!"
My eyes snapped open to see the two children hovering over me. I sat up abruptly, scaring them both.
I asked, "What… What happened?"
Asmonious answered obediently, "You fainted."
I rubbed my head to try to shoo away the sleepiness, "Why did I faint again-"
Lene jumped on top of me, hugging me tightly, "-Mother! Mother let's play!"
"Wow… You really jumped quickly on the Mother train." I rubbed my head and frowned from the headache, "Why are you calling me Mother? I can't take the place of your parents. You are my new disciple, so you can call me Master instead."
Lene paused, almost freezing as she thought. Then she snapped out of her trance, "Parents? Lene doesn't know parents… Lene only knows Mother!"
I looked at Asmonious in surprise and he shrugged, "The doctor did mention memory loss…"
A large sigh escaped my lips, "So she did…"
Lene continued to pull on me, "Play! Play!"
I turned to check the sky, "It's getting dark. We should sleep soon."
"No sleep! Play!"
"Well…" I thought to myself, "I guess we can play one game before bedtime. What would you like to play?"
"Climbing!"
Lene sprinted away, her long silver hair trailing behind her.
I quickly ran after her, "Lene! Be careful-"
She suddenly tripped over a rock and fell flat on her face. She burst out crying as Asmonious and I ran over to her quickly. I picked her back up and winced as the blood seeped through her bandaged eyes.
"Head! Eyes! Hurt!"
I picked her up trying to comfort her as I would a baby, "I know, I know. Asmonious, could you get the medicine?"
He nodded and pulled out the needed medicine and bandages as I created a chair from ice and sat down on it with her on my lap. I removed the old bandage and sucked in a breath.
That…
That looks terrible.
I looked at Asmonious who already had the medicine ready. He went to place the ointment on her eyes, but she pulled back screaming in pain as he did. His hand jerked back and I tried my best to calm her down, but she kept squirming in fear and pain.
"No! No! Hurt! Hurt!"
"Lene, I know it hurts, but you need it to get better!"
"NO!
How can I get this kid to sit still?!
I knew I wasn't cut out to be a parent!!!
Asmonious spoke in a calm voice, "Lene. Do you want Master to tell you a story?"
Her squirming finally stopped, "S-Story?"
Ah…
That's right.
I'm not alone.
I spoke softly as I smiled, "Are you interested?"
She nodded quickly.
"Then let your big brother put on the ointment."
"But… Hurts…"
"You can squeeze my hand if it helps."
"O-Okay…"
Asmonious started applying the ointment, however this time, she allowed him to do so. She squeezed my hand while whimpering and I grit my teeth as I tried not to cry out from her freakish strength.
How can a child be this strong!? I feel like my hand is being flattened!!
Asmonious redressed her bandages, "There, all finished. Doesn't it feel better?"
"Yes! Now story!"
I chuckled, "Okay, okay. Your Master will give you a story now… But what kind of story do you want?"
She shrugged, "I don't know."
"Hm…"
I tried to think of any but came up with nothing.
I'm just not creative in storytelling.
But who needs to be creative?
I smirked as I spoke, "What about the story 'The Hero of the Desert'?"
Her eyes lit up, "I want to hear!"
I started my storytelling, leaving out names, but telling everything I knew about Atta and the journeys she took to save the common people.
Forgive me, Atta…
But I need a good story to tell.
Once I finished, I noticed Asmonious yawning and fighting to stay awake. The moon had since appeared in the night sky alerting me to how late it was. I stood up, "Okay. It's time for bed."
Lene hopped up, "Not tired!"
She started running, but this time I was there to hold her back.
"Did you learn nothing from before?!"
"I want to climb!!"
I pulled her into the cave, "Then climb here."
Asmonious followed me inside, rubbing his eyes. Once I ensured Lene was interested in the cave wall, I finally had time to focus on Asmonious. He had already snuck into his makeshift bed and pulled the blanket over him. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but he was barely awake.
I sat beside him and rubbed his head, "Shh… Sleep."
As my thumb gently swiped across his forehead, his eyes closed and he fell straight to sleep. Over the time I've spent with him, he hasn't been as opposed to sleeping as he was when I first met him. However, he still tried to stay awake as much as possible and once he did finally fall asleep, he would be plagued by nightmares. If I wasn't beside him to calm him down, he would wake up screaming.
Thus, I would usually be awake throughout the night, only falling asleep once he woke up in the morning. As I slept, he would practice drawing until I finally woke up.
"Okay, Lene. It's your turn- Lene!?" I looked around the cave, but I couldn't see her. I felt panic seize my heart, "Lene! Where did you go!? Lene-"
"Hello, Mother!"
I froze and slowly raised my head up to the ceiling where the voice came from. Lene hung upside down from the ceiling with only her fingers and feet connected to the rock. Her long silver hair trailed downwards, sparkling in the faint light of the moon.
Lene grinned, "Moon!"
I blinked in surprise, "U-Uh… Yeah. There's a moon."
"Lene wants to see Moon!!"
Without waiting for me, she crawled out of the cave via the ceiling until she was outside. I rushed after her, "Lene! Get down! You're going to hurt yourself!!!"
Throughout the night, I kept going back and forth between soothing Asmonious back to sleep and then chasing after Lene. After an extremely exhausting night, Lene finally snuggled into bed near Asmonious and fell asleep.
"No one ever told me children are this much work…" I groaned in exhaustion as I stared at the two, "I need a house… Then I can at least make sure they are locked up and can't escape…"
I collapsed onto my back, falling into a deep slumber.
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Nekoru
Nekoru Hello! I am back and currently sick... I'm on cough syrup right now as I attempt to combat a sickness, so if there are any mistakes in my writing, feel free to comment on it~
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