The Curse Since Birth

Family

" Please.... Wake up, will you.....? "

Thunder's fit halted a few minutes ago, but he collapsed into deep sleep due to sheer exhaustion right after. That was not what his brothers wanted. They wanted him to be awake, so they could envelope him into hugs so tight and relieve their worry all at once.

Leaf held Thunder's hand as he sobbed into it. He sat at the side of Thunder's bed, refusing to leave his side. Solar, though he tried, couldn't and didn't want to convince him otherwise, so he stood by his side, looking after them both.

Cyclone stayed silent as he took in his surroundings. He turned from the heart-stretching scene at Thunder's bed to the twins wrapping a bandage on Quake's wounded hand. The fresh tear stains gave away their distress despite them wanting to be strong for one another.

The adrenaline finally started to decrease from Cyclone's body, and he could finally regain feeling into his fingers and toes. He felt dizzy, nauseated from what just happened. They crumpled in front of the King and Queen, whom Cyclone didn't know where they were at that time.

His eyes fought back tears as he observed his suffering brother on the bed. Now he could see them. The markings has begun to creep up his neck a slight bit, which sent chills down Cyclone's spine. His skin, he had just noticed, was paler than usual, hence the cold touch Cyclone felt before.

Before he could summarize everything he had seen, the door flung open, revealing the Queen, with the King right behind her. Their capes were taken off, enabling them to move more freely. Their eyes widen when they laid on Thunder but softened when they turn to Cyclone. Queen Lilian held both his shaking hands into hers, and gave him a comforting smile.

" Are you kids okay? " was all that she could ask. Cyclone gave her Highness a weak smile, nodding to respond her. Queen Lilian gave another similar smile back, a sigh coming out of her mouth. The smile quickly faded when she turned to face her husband, who was comforting the rest of the brothers.

" Where is Kaizo? " she softly asked.

" He went out a few minutes ago. Said he needed to make a report to our Masters, " whispered Quake. The King and Queen internally shattered at the voice crack.

" Do.... You know what he has? " King Aiden hesitantly asked, slightly guilty to be asking in the first place. He frowned sympathetically at the sight of pained expressions in front of him.

Leaf wiped off another tear rolling down, leaning heavily against Solar. " It's complicated... To be honest, we know not how to explain it.... " he replied, his voice hoarse from the silent sobbing. Solar tightened his arms around Leaf in hopes of comforting him.

Blaze and Ice wanted to speak on their behalf, since they were the ones who succeeded in fighting back at least one teardrop. " He was bestowed a curse... A curse that is believed to be incurable due to the difficult ingredients to obtain. "

The King and Queen's eyes widened. They straightened their backs. " A curse? " The brothers noticed the worried glance King Aiden sent to his wife. " The Oenee Curse? " she asked as if she had the need to confirm it.

It was now the brothers' turn to be confused and surprised. " ...... Yes. Your Highness, yes. What do you know, Queen Lilian? "

Queen Lilian sighed as she braved herself to look at the younger boys. " My little brother, Luke was 18 when we found out he was cursed. By the time we knew, they had already covered half of his body. For months we tried to complete the cure, but we never did. "