Shattered

Buttercups

2.

BUTTERCUPS

Yellow buttercups symbolise new beginnings, optimism, new energy, joy and happiness, while green buttercups also symbolise good health, youth, good fortune and renewals. Buttercups are also often associated with humility.

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POLLUX WAS TREMBLING WHEN they retired to bed early that night.

The walk had gone just fine, other than the weird incident at the park. People, people who didn't know about the loss that the Ashworth family had suffered the day before, continued to roam the streets like they always did, and it reassured Pollux. Because once they left, the Enemy wouldn't continue to attack Ciel any longer. Hopefully. Then everything would be fine, because things would go back to normal for everyone else. (Although, Pollux did notice that the number of people wandering around Ciel was significantly fewer than usual, with some shops being closed for the day. In any other town, this would've been pretty normal, but in Ciel, it was pretty much unthinkable.)

However, he was scared. The flickering dots were much fainter than usual, but that did not bring Pollux any relief whatsoever. In fact, all it did was scare him even more, because the fact that the dots weren't as bright as usual did not signify less people, but instead the fact that it'd be slightly harder to spot the Enemy if they attacked them.

Not only that, what if they didn't manage to leave their home and reach the woods fast enough? What if they arrived one second late and the hour passed? What if the Rauns, the enemy, became bright again before they could make it safely past the boundaries? What would they do then? Pollux's mind raced with questions, yet he could not think of an answer to any of them, and that scared him more than he wanted to admit.

Castor had gone to bed, snoring loudly next to him. Pollux had tried to do the same and call it a day, but minutes turned into hours and he was still thinking. He could feel his eyelids start to flutter shut, but the sound of footsteps interrupted that.

Father?

His heart skipped a beat as he recognized the said footsteps. Quickly shutting his eyes, he pretended to sleep, knowing that his parents would not be happy in the slightest to learn that he was still awake at such an ungodly hour. Hopefully, he thought to himself, his father would not suspect that he was awake and would continue down the corridor to go to bed as well.

Unfortunately, luck was against him that day.

The door squeaked open, making Pollux wince quietly under the covers. His father did not seem to have any reaction to it, unaffected, and continued to walk. His footsteps thudded against the floorboards, and it took everything in Pollux's power to stay quiet as his father sat down on the chair next to his bed.

"Father?'' he croaked weakly, hoping that his father would be understanding. A question had just popped into his mind, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep anytime soon if the said question was not answered promptly.

"Yes, Pollux?'' his father asked gently, his voice slightly chiding as he continued to speak. "You shouldn't be awake, you know. You need energy to be able to get through the day.''

Pollux said nothing.

"I know you're upset about Cielo, my boy,'' his father continued, and Pollux could hear the pain in his father's voice. The man hadn't brought Cielo up at all since the huge breakdown that had occurred after all of them had found out about Cielo's disappearance, and Pollux had been starting to wonder if his older brother had been forgotten.