Necromancer For Hire- Arc 4

Arc 4.5, Chapter 4

The Visit

Esper scowled, pointing his arm upstairs. "Go," he ordered.

"Go where?!" Aunora growled, temper still flaring from her confrontation with Victor. Her chest stung, the words "I hate you" still burning in her heart. Shock and stress had near-shut her down, so her body sent out its most successful emotion to control her: anger.

"Go talk to him." Esper had lost his timid composure, acting more like a disgruntled parent than a teenager.

"Why should I go talk to him?! That little brat yelled at me!" Aunora threw hands in the air, her rage fully animated.

"Because, if I go and apologize to him and calm him down, he will only cleave closer to me and see you as an agressive, cruel authoritative figure and therefore be petrified of you. The most prominent memories of you in his child brain will be you screaming at him and threatening violence. That will shape his view of you for his entire life and-"

"Alright," Aunora groaned, "I get it! If I don't go and talk to the kid I'm a bad mom." Esper nodded in agreement.

Numbly stumbling up the stairs, Aunora gritted her teeth. Images of Victor's terrified expression flashed in her mind, sending chills down her spine. She hadn't meant to scare the kid half to death, she just wanted Victor to listen to her!

He can't be that tender, can he? Aunora asked herself, and she immediately knew the answer. Of course he is! The kid's afraid of his own shadow! She rubbed her forehead, sighing. I shouldn't have been so hard on him.

Aunora paused by Victor's bedroom door, hesitant to knock. She could hear small, muffled sobs coming from inside the room, and regret twisted in her stomach.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Aunora spoke.

"Hey, uh, hey, Victor? You there?" Her voice was low and unsteady, not wanting to worry Victor any further.

"A-Are we leaving? I-I'm coming, I swear! I need to p-pull on some more clothes and then I'll be ready, I promise, please!" Victor cried, fear and desperation evident in his tone. Was he afraid of her?

"What?" His response had taken Aunora off guard. "No, I, um," she hastily found her voice once again, "I just wanna talk."

Victor stayed silent, but his ragged breathing was still audible. Aunora waited with bated breath, shuffling impatiently in front of his door.

"Please?" Aunora's heart pounded, wishing to mend the tear she had caused so quickly in she and her newfound child's relationship. Aunora was well aware of how good she was at making people hate her, but now, she wanted to focus on actually gaining loved ones.

"I guess..."

Not taking a minute to spare, Aunora pushed open the door, sliding into the room Victor and Umbra shared.

Victor was curled on the bed, knees tucked under his chin. He held tightly onto a stuffed dragon, letting the end of his sharp nose rest on its head. His eyes were puffy and red from crying, and the boy was visibly trembling. He looked scared out of his mind, watching Aunora like she was some sort of predator stalking her prey.

Aunora would usually revel in that tremulous gaze, but today, even the thought of it made her stomach churn. She shakily held up her hands, trying to show Victor she meant no harm.

"What do you want?" Victor sniffled, looking alarmed when she approached his bedside.

"Let's just talk, okay? Can you do that?" Aunora asked slowly, enunciating each syllable.

Victor wiped his eyes on the plush dragon in his arms, shuffling a couple inches away from Aunora. He hesitantly nodded.

"Yeah...what do you wanna talk about?"

Author's Note- poor victor. and poor aunora, honestly.