LUCIA

10 Love Of A Sister

   Lucia returned back to the cave with Luke and Marcia, without a word. She didn't know what to say to them or even what to ask, as she headed back into her room. Not much was known about the Unnamed Kingdom, after all.
The name of the kingdom was unknown, their dressing styles, how the people of that kingdom looked, their culture, was the heart of the kingdom male or female, was there another royal family or was the kingdom desert of any royals and nobles; she was curious of the unknown which had been marked by others as dangerous. Nobody in any of the three named kingdoms could give her answers, to a kingdom that doesn't even accept delegations. All that was left were rumors and suggestions which weren't really reliable.
   She most especially couldn't understand why a member of such a kingdom, would go so far, as to follow her secretly and report back home about her every actions.
'That kingdom is too weird' she thought 'What did I do to gain someone like that's interest?' she yawned 'And why...do I feel so sleepy?' she shut her eyes and passed out on her bed
Some minutes later
Marcia took a peek into Lucia's room and found her sound asleep. When she saw this sight, Marcia instinctively frowned
'She didn't even take off her cloak' Marcia thought as she entered the room and moved closer to Lucia. She pushed the strands of hair away from Lucia's face and could finally see the subtle blush on Lucia's face 'We'll have to start training her tomorrow at this point. Her inability to control her powers could cause some complications in the future. She needs to start releasing more of her magic power so she doesn't sleep too much'
Marcia moved away from Lucia and left her room. As she shut the door outside, she saw Luke standing in front of the door of his room
"Is she sleeping?" Luke asked
"Unfortunately so"
"What were those two thinking sealing her powers as soon as she was born?" Luke growled
"They probably did it so she could live a normal life" Marcia said
"Normal life? She's a heart. That's a curse" Luke said "They hid the truth about Diana from her. They hid the fact she was a heart from her and allowed her to grow with this weak personality. The reality of being a heart has yet to hit her and when it does, she'll definitely seal her emotions and never be the same again. Is that called normal?"
"Lu-Lu..."
"I couldn't do anything for my sister. I was a horrible older brother who avoided his sister just because she looked like our mother. I forced her into sealing her heart but, as the saying goes, like mother like daughter" Luke said "She takes after Pamela. In the future, I'm sure she would sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of others...just like her mother" Marcia pursed her lips
"Should we go through with the ceremony?"
"The ceremony of divine intervention can only be done at the castle. I'd rather not go through with it" Luke said "We'll start training her tomorrow and see if she can gain all her memories in a week. If that doesn't work, then we'll go through the ceremony" he opened the door to his room and entered inside before slamming it shut
'Lu-Lu, that wasn't your fault. You never knew such a thing would happen thanks to who your mother was' Marcia thought as she stared at Lucia's bedroom door before leaving
*****
Neinhart Kingdom
City capital, Rosslyn
The castle and buildings around them remained in ruins and the kingdom seem to have gained an unfading dark cloud. It reminded many of Elencia where the sun never shined. Vines spread out from the palace walls and wrapped itself around other buildings; covering the entirety of Neinhart. While the dark shadowy beasts and controlled knights, roamed around the kingdom to implant fear into the citizens.
Within the palace walls, on a throne wrapped in vines and hidden in the darkness, was the body of Diana. It was protected by several beasts and a few controlled knights.
Inside the body of Diana
Annabel's hands were tightly wrapped around Jane's throat as she lifted her into the air. Jane found it difficult to breath while she struggled and held Annabel's hands. Both women were dressed in a solid black - almost like the solid dark purple colour of the room
"Anna...please...stop" Jane said with a croaked voice as she stared into Annabel's rage filled eyes
"You know, when you let that child go, I didn't raise my hand to you because I knew she was weak. I thought she would just die later" Annabel said as she brought Jane's face closer to her own "However...she's still alive. Even after I sent that assassin and worst of all, she was moved to Lupin"
"I'm...sorry" Jane said with tears in her eyes
"Now, she has the backing of Lupin" Annabel said before throwing Jane to the side "And it's all thanks to that necklace you gave her...or what? Did you think I really wouldn't recognise the power of a mystic beast?"
Jane was coughing heavily as she held her throat while staring at Annabel
"I hate it" Annabel said "I hate the fact that you're looking at me like that. You have the same eyes as dad and look at me in fear just like those people in Neinhart. Like I'm some kind of monster"
"You're...wrong" Jane said "I'm worried about you....you're my sister....how could I possibly be afraid of you? I'll help you do anything...because I love you the most"
"Then...." Annabel said as a black spear appeared in her hands as she walked towards Jane "....You'll have no problems with me taking your eyes"
"Anna?" Jane let out as Annabel grabbed her by her hair
"I want to be loved by mum and dad. For that...I'll be taking your emerald eyes and half of your powers" Annabel said as Jane's hair and dress began to turn grey and she brought the spearhead towards Jane's eyes
If only the spear were a normal weapon, Jane would have had no reason to feel fear and would just take on the pain the weapon would bring her, knowing that she would eventually heal. However, the weapon in Annabel's hand, was a heart weapon; a weapon formed by a heart's personality and used in battle. These weapons only came once in a heart's life, no matter how long they lived, and were laced in all the glory and power of a heart. Without the help of another heart, this would become a wound Jane would never be able to heal from.
   Moreover, such a weapon was being pointed at Jane by her twin sister, who had been born from the same womb as her. Her sister, of whom she betrayed her whole family for and let the kingdom she was born into, ridicule and insult her. For the sake of her sister, of whom she loved the most, she was willing to accept anything. Even now, because her love for her sister had become what made Annabel, someone who was far from saving
Annabel swung the spearhead across Jane's two eyes and Jane screamed as the spearhead was laced in her blood while blood fell from her two eyes. Black veins ran up Annabel's arms as she was in a state of ecstasy after absorbing half of Jane's powers. Without a care in the world, she let go of Jane's hair and Jane went into a kneeling position with her head on the ground; not once daring to raise her head up
"Grey hair suits you, Jane" Annabel said as she pat Jane's head while Jane stopped screaming "You'll never betray me again...right?"
"I swear...I'll never betray you...Anna"
"My cute sister, Jane" Annabel smiled before leaving her alone on the floor
******
"Lucia" a girl called out from afar. Her long jet black hair swayed in the air and her emerald green eyes held a lot of warmth in them. She held a garland made from daisy flowers and behind her was a white horse. It was Deborah-Jane.
"Sister" Lucia shouted as she ran towards Jane while barefooted. She jumped into Jane's arms and they both landed on the ground in the meadow. They both burst into laughter before Jane and Lucia sat up. Jane put the garland on Lucia's head and used magic to braid Lucia's hair.
"You're so cool. Thanks" Lucia said
"I'll be leaving in a week's time. So, do you want to learn how to ride a horse?" Jane asked as she stood up and helped Lucia up
"But dad said it was dangerous" Lucia said while fumbling with her fingers and Jane grabbed her two hands
"You have your big sis don't you?" Jane asked smugly "I'll protect you"
"Okay" Lucia said and she got on the white horse with Jane. They both rode through the meadow on the white horse and laughed as the wind hit their faces. It was the first time Lucia had seen Jane so free and happy.....
....When Lucia opened her eyes, she realised it was already the next day and everything that had just happened was nothing but a dream. In reality, Neinhart had already been taken over by Diana and she was currently in her room at Lupin.
She placed a hand against her forehead to help her adjust to the sunlight
'This kingdom isn't even above water yet, there's so much undiluted sunlight and the moon looks so normal at night. I wonder how people can put up with this and make it seem so normal' she thought as she sat up before staring at the bracelet on her wrist and grazing her other hand over it. 'What was that dream? Why did I dream of Jane now of all times?' she felt saddened 'I hope she's alright'
   Lucia got out of bed and washed her face before taking a bath. However, to her surprise, there were no clothes for her to change into like last time
"What's going on?" Lucia mumbled when the door to her room opened and Marcia entered her room dressed oddly
"Morning, Luce" Marcia said
"This is a very odd morning" Lucia mumbled "Why are you dressed like that?" she asked while looking at Marcia
Marcia had her long hair braided into a fishtail with a ribbon to hold it together. Her two gold hibiscus hair combs sat at the sides of her hair and the clothes that she wore were a dark blue and gold colour. The gold colour were on her hands, feet and sides going up her chest area in the forms of gauntlets, heels attached to metal greaves, and a chest piece. These were all attached to a thick dark blue material which looked like a flared dress with long sleeves and a high neckline, and long stockings which connected all parts of this armour - completely made up of Lupinite.
"Oh. You mean Lupin's traditional armour?"
"That's armour?"
"Every kingdom is different" Marcia said with a smile "Neinhart have their guards dressed in fitted metal for protection. Elencia is a country of barbarians so, you wouldn't even spot any guard dressed in metals....their skin has been trained so well with aura since they don't have much magic, that normal blades don't work on them. And Lupin has Lupinite...only hearts and dra- oops I shouldn't tell you that. But the other race in Neinhart can cause damage to this armour"
"What of Uncle Luke?"
"Lu-Lu isn't a heart but he still has the blood of Neinhart's other race in him so, naturally, his strength against this armour is quite frightening" Marcia said "However, we didn't come to talk about this. I need to get you ready for training" she snapped her fingers and Lucia was covered by a blue light
"Training?"
"How to fight. Lu-Lu and I would like to know where you stand on that?"
"I've never touched anything to do with war or weapons before" Lucia said "I'm only politically knowledgeable"
"Of course, you are. Mel didn't want you to ever touch war like your mother did" Marcia said and Lucia's hair was quickly being braided "Since his life span was almost on par with that of a heart, he wanted to handle stuff like war himself. You were his light...his precious princess. Which is why he went through great pains to keep you safe" she said and armour of the same design as hers appeared on Lucia
"But Uncle Luke doesn't see it that way"
"It's because by overprotecting you, he made you vulnerable" Marcia said as she finally finished with Lucia's hair before clapping her hands "Now, I can explain the point of today. Let's have a chat as we walk" she said and Lucia stared in the mirror
Although her armour was the same design as Marcia's, her thick clothe was white while the other parts were silver. Her hair was also held together in a crown braid by a silver ribbon.
"Luce?" Marcia called out from the door
"I'm sorry" Lucia said as she rushed towards Marcia and left together with her