Sᵾđđɇn̷ Ɇm̷øŧɨøn̷s̷ a̷n̷đ Ⱥƀn̷øɍm̷a̷łłɏ Ꝁɨn̷đ Sᵽɨđɇɍs̷

Na̷n̷ɨꝁa̷ Ⱥn̷đ Ɨłłᵾ(m̷ɨ)

It hadn't changed at all, not even after all these months. The same beige floor, pink and turquoise bed, sky painted walls with flowers and trees, white vanity, and of course her hoard of pillows and plushies. The only thing missing was the young miss herself, Alluka. And Nanika of course. He took a quick skim of the room before spotting the tip of a green skirt and smiled softly.

"Hm, where could Allu possibly be?" He hummed to himself, deciding to amuse the young girl in her games.

Illumi walked over to the other side of the room, checking under her bed and behind her giant stuffed bear.

"Has she gotten better at playing hide and seek ever since I left?" The ravenet asked no one in particular as he dusted his knees off, the coldness in his chest lifting a bit as he continued his mock-up search.

The soft giggle he received in reply was the only thing he needed as an excuse for finding her hidden away in her plushies.

"Oh? Did I hear someone?" He then turned over to the suspicious lump in the plushies between a panda, rabbit, bear, and dolly.

The slight shift after he watched for a few moments made him suppress a small laugh.

"Is she perhaps... here!"

Then, he quickly moved forward and snatched her up from the plushies by her waist. Alluka let out a squeal of delight as she gently squirmed in his arms, but she clearly didn't intend on getting away from the ravenet.

"There you are." He nodded to himself, over exaggerating how 'proud' he was of himself in finding Alluka.

"Aniki!" Alluka yipped happily as she hugged him the best she could in her position in Illumi's arms. "You came for us! I knew you would, but Nanika said you wouldn't."

Illumi hummed softly, thinking of a reply as he carried the girl over to her bed. He knew that Nanika had a slightly more negative view on him than Alluka did, and he knew that the little cambion would've probably been right if the incident hadn't occurred, but he was here now and that was what mattered right now.

"Well, I came with a friend to come get you both." Illumi finally said after rocking the girl in his arms for a little bit. "How have you been, Allu?"

"Mmm, okay. Nanika's been the same too."

He nodded before resting his head on the top of Alluka's, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he felt exhaustion threatening to take over. Alluka, ever perceptive for her age, noticed his expression and tugged on his sleeves to make sure he was still awake.

"Mmm?" He puffed out as he blinked a few times as it was getting harder to keep his eyes open.

"Are you okay, Aniki?"

Illumi looked down at the girl, a bit startled at her question. But... was he okay? The whole thing that had transpired over the past two months or so felt so... surreal. It was all just so tiring, having all these emotions and being able to express them so freely. Now, their parents were finally dead, they could get away from everything. They could live without having their parents watching their every move, controlling what they do. Still, he was tired after it all and it felt as if he had barely gotten any rest. Of course, he didn't tell this to either of them, but he just wanted to take a nap right about now.

"I'm fine Allu, just tired is all."

The girl blinked up at him, as if just now realizing that her brother was acting differently than before.

"Oh, why doesn't Aniki take a nap now?"

Illumi leaned back and let out a small groan. "Don't tempt me, Allu. As nice as a nap sounds, we need to get you two out of here."