One Shots

67. [Painful Tear]

The young boy standing in front of them was actually Ilia's fiancé, Damien.

His clothing wrinkled from where it was too big, and with his shorter stature, his hair seemed even longer than it was before, reaching towards his knees. They should really cut his hair a bit so it didn't get stuck in anything, once they got the chance to.

If there was anything notable about the younger Damien, it was...how gaunt and lifeless his face looked. Dark shadows shaded his eyes like a nightmare, and his eyes were so devoid of light that it almost seemed dead. The way he carried himself was not one you would normally see a child do, dragging his shoulders down as if he had no energy to hold himself up.

Even though his clothing nearly made him trip, the boy made no effort to pull them around.

"...Damien, would you like to eat?" Isla said, shutting her book closed and standing up. "You look hungry, let's have lunch."

"...lunch?"

He said the word like it was foreign, tilting his head. His long bangs fell into his eyes, making him look even younger than he already is.

"Yes, you should be hungry, so let us dine," Isla continued as she walked towards him, putting her hand on his tiny shoulder. "Is there anything in particular you like?"

He shook his head limply.

"...'m not picky," young Damien mumbled. "But 'm unable to pay for't."

"You don't have to pay. You can however much you want without a cent," Isla talked to him gently, just like a mother would. "Let's go, you look hungry."

Isla took him by the hand, and led him out of the room.

"Ilia, can you tell the other members to be careful?" Isla called out before she left. "This is a delicate situation, so treat it with caution, alright?"

She disappeared with the young boy in tow.

"...Damien had a really weird accent when he was young," Ingrid said after a long stretch of silence in the room. "Northern Vega, perhaps? Or Southern Gliese?"

"Sounds like a mix of both," he mumbled back. "He looks even skinnier as a kid than he does now."

"He did say he grew up extremely poor..." Astrid said thoughtfully, though she sounded somber. "Yuu, were you able to get anything out of your runes?"

"Only lived with his father. Never much to eat, so he didn't," was all Yuu had to say on the matter.

Ilia could only think about the younger version of Damien. The latter always said that despite being poor, he didn't have a bad childhood. Was that a lie? If it wasn't, then why did young Damien look so broken?

***

Ilia informed everyone in the Celestial Brigade about the situation as quickly as he could. Some people were amused, but Ilia knew that if they saw what Damien looked like, they wouldn't be.

Once he made his rounds, he went to the Brigade's dining area, where Isla had taken Damien to eat.

A large bowl of...something was in front of Damien, but for some reason, he wasn't eating from it. Isla was trying to coax him to eat, but he kept shaking his head, mumbling something that Ilia couldn't hear from this distance.

"What's wrong?" Ilia said as he approached. The bowl itself was a bowl of one of Ilia's favorites, spicy beef stew, but Damien was eying it with little to no enjoyment.

"He still thinks that he has to pay for the meal," Isla sighed. "I can't get him to eat."

Damien gave a wary glance at Ilia. His eyes were so tired, so lifeless for someone his age, it wasn't right.

"Here."

Ilia pulled a silver coin from his pocket, and set it on the table. Damien looked at him with shock and surprise.

"I'll pay it for you, okay?" Ilia said. "So eat. You need some food in your system. So don't let the food go to waste, alright?"

Damien nodded numbly. He struggled with handling the utensil but he began to eat, though rather sloppily. At least he was eating, though. That was good.

"Isla, you should go back and finish your work," Ilia said, patting her shoulder. "I can stay with Damien, I have the day off today."

Isla nodded her head and stood up from her seat.

"Damien, will you be alright with Ilia?" She asked. "He's my brother, he'll make sure that you're safe, alright?"

Did Damien even hear her? He was so focused on the meal in front of him that it was like he was in a different world, and he didn't notice that Isla had disappeared and Ilia had taken her place.

He must have been starving. It wasn't unlike how he was when he was older: Damien rarely ever ate unless Ilia reminded him or personally made sure that Damien ate. But seeing where it stemmed from...it made Ilia sick.

Eventually, Damien finished his bowl until it was scraped clean. He set the utensil next to it, and pushed it away, looking green in the face.

"Are you alright?" Ilia said, scrunching his eyebrows.

"...'think I'te too much," Damien mumbled, slouching in his chair. "Stomach hurts."

There wasn't that much food in the bowl, it was a single serving, after all. But Damien must not have been used to having that much food in front of him, let alone to eat himself.

"Do you want to lie down?"

He sluggishly nodded his head, but when Ilia tried to help Damien up from his chair, the latter turned even more green. Ilia resorted to carrying Damien so that he was supported by his legs by Ilia's arms, with Damien's arms around his neck.

Damien was...really tiny. Even tinier beneath his large clothing. He weighed basically nothing to Ilia.

But Ilia carried Damien to a quieter place where he could lay him down. Damien didn't speak, and if it wasn't for the fact that he could hear him softly breathe, Ilia would've thought he was dead.

"Here we go," Ilia said as he set little Damien down on his own bed. He couldn't think of anywhere else to take him so that Damien could rest, but it didn't seem to matter. Damien didn't seem to care, and curled up on the blankets in as tight a ball as he could after he took off his worn shoes.

Ilia turned around for a split second, but when he turned back, Damien closed his eyes and fell asleep. He seemed more serene while he was sleeping...no point in bothering him when he looked so peaceful. Maybe some sleep would stave off how dark the circles under his eyes were.

"Goodness..." Ilia mumbled, but he sighed and covered the small boy with a blanket. He very much couldn't let Damien wake up alone, so Ilia sat at his small desk and slouched.

Apparently, Damien was out on a mission with his best friend, Persephone, when he got hit with a magic spell set as a trap in the area that they were investigating. At first, it seemed as if nothing happened, but then POOF! Damien turned into a younger version of himself, with seemingly no memories past that age.

No idea pointed to how long it would last, either.

***

These strange people taking care of him weren't that bad. They were nice. But Damien desperately wanted his father.

But there was something gnawing at Damien's heart, telling him that something was missing. His dream didn't help him either: it made his heart sink to see his father disappear.

When Damien woke up, the man called Ilia was sitting in a chair. It looked like he dozed off too, since he slumped over his desk and his shoulders rose at an even pace. Damien wanted to get up, but...he was really warm. And comfortable. It was so comfortable. It was unlike the old cot that Damien was used to sleeping on at home, which was so flat that he might as well have been sleeping on the floor: fluffy and soft.

Damien closed his eyes again. If there was no rush...he would like to linger a little while longer. Yes. Just a little bit. It was really warm here. Really warm...