2 Chapter 2

"Who are these two?" her voice was concerned about the matter. As she rushed towards them, she noticed Luna in Lovell's arms. Her motherly instincts kicked in, running them inside. Once inside, she took Luna from Lovell to tend to her needs. She was then telling her husband to take Lovell to the bathroom and get cleaned up. The man complied, taking Lovell up.

"So, where are you two from?" The man asked, washing Lovells back.

Lovell was lowering his head, answering him, "Blacklight, sir." The man paused, turning himself towards Lovell's face. He could tell it Lovell was not lying as the child's face grew grim. "We were the only ones who made. Though Luna would be dead if her parents never came to my home when my mother was sending me off to hid in the woods." Lovell, recalling what happened.

Tears started to pour down his face as he began to ball his eyes out from the devastation that gripped him. The man was rubbing gently on Lovell's shoulders to comfort the boy. Lovell felt safe and hopeful as both his and Luna's future seemed to be looking better. Now that he found a safe place to settle down for a while.

After getting cleaned up, Lovell started to smell some food. The man's wife had cooked dinner after dealing with Luna's basic needs. Was sitting down to eat, the man began to explain their situation to his wife, Margret Humbly. She looked over at Lovell; pity filled Margret's face as he gingerly ate the food. Lovell barely tuned into their conversation, whereas his mind wandered on the events that had transpired in recent days, while Luna laid in another room, soundly asleep, clean and well-fed. Lovell's thoughts then turned to what they were going to do with him and Luna? Were they going to either take them in or bring them to a local orphanage? Margret's hand reached over, touching Lovell's small hand.

Lovell jumped at the sight of her hand as he looked up at her, " Dear, you were lost in thought," her voice soothingly as she furrowed her brows. "I had asked, what's your full name was? If that's not too much to ask?" Margret was hoping that Lovell could answer to see if he had any other family she might have known or heard.

Lovell looked over to her, the fork resting in his mouth. He pulled the utensil out and lowered it to the table as he looked away. "It's Lovell Quacey Krisnik." His answer made Margret sit back. "Why?" Curiously asking.

Margret turned to her husband, Henry. Her face was filled with concern as if a ghost walked past her. Margret then turned back to Lovell. "Your father wouldn't happen to be Azoth Krisnik, would he?" Lovell shook his head no. Margret took as a sigh of relief as he looked at her husband. "Do know who your father is, though." She started to prod Lovell for information, seeing if Lovell had any other relatives. "We might be able to help with finding—"

Lovell stopped as he glanced up at Margret, "My father died back when I was four months." Lovell lowered his head while he rests his hands onto his lap. "as well as my birth mommy." His gaze was resting on the table. "My faster mom was all I had left before…"

Margret felt restless as she listened to Lovell, "Eat up. You must be hungry." Lovell's thoughts out weighted Margret's voice with his late mothers. Lovell—now teary-eyed—nodded as he finished his plate. Margret sat as she could do nothing to ease his suffering.

Margret stood up to place her and her husband's dishes in the sink. She stopped before she glanced over at Lovell, "once you've finished eating. Just put the dishes in the sink." Her heart tightened as if someone was squeezing the life out as she looked away. "I will deal with them in the morning." Margret looked back once more at Lovell, as she could see his tears flowing down as he finished. She quickly turned away to not cry herself, "Your room is upstairs. It is right across from the bathroom." She then grabbed a glass and filling it with water. "There are no orphanages in town, but we can take both of you in as our own if you want?" Margret could feel the tears welling up both sadness for the boy and joy-filled her soul.

Lovell finished his food as she joy-filled him with her kindness. He took a deep breath to clear his nose, "Thank you," Lovell croaked before he notices that Margret seemed upset. "May I ask you why you seem so sad?"

Margret was caught off guard as she spun to look at Lovell. The tears seemed to have stopped as she looked deep into the boy's blue eyes. While they stared intensely into her own.

Lovell realized what he did wrong. While his face turned red, he then began to stutter, "I-I a-am s-sorry, I-I didn't mean to pry. I-it's just, I could tell t-that you are saddened b-by something."

Margret wiped her eyes as she smiled gently. While she walked back and took a seat across from Lovell. "We had just lost our son about a week ago to a virus called the Vollow Flu." She outstretched her hand to Lovell's, "It just seems like—you and Luna— are a blessing from the goddess, herself." Margret leaned in closer to comfort Lovell and herself, "that's all." Lovell nodded as he stared at the table.

Lovell then became curious when she said, 'blessing from the goddess, herself.' He looked at her, his eye filled with wonder. "When you say goddess, do you mean Goddess Lunatica?"

Margret looked puzzled as she stared at Lovell, "I don't know? It's just a saying." Leaning back in her seat, "But who is this Lunatica, if I may ask?"

Henry turned to join their conversation. "Yes, I've never heard of her?"

"Well, my mama told me that she's a god who watches over life and death." Pausing for a moment. "As she is the Goddess of Life and Death." The colour drained from their faces when he looked at them. Lovell, flustered with embarrassment, waved his hands back and forth to clear things up, "no, not in a bad way." Placing his hand on his lap, a smile creaked its way to his face, "She gives life to all, with the power of reincarnation people and revival them as well," his eye lighting up when he talked about the goddess, "though she can easily take life it's only done on the right conditions." The smile lit up his face, Margret and Henry's face relaxing as he continued. "She also guides the spirits left in our world home to the spiritual plans that she governs over. For she watches over us all."

The couple looked at each other. Lovell lowered his head in dismay. "Though she's supposed to be reincarnated every sixty thousand years as a mortal—To recover her powers like an elemental sunstone set out in the sun to recharge its power—before dying in old age." Closing his eyes, "Though mama said that she is being killed before reaching even her twenty-fifth birthday." They became lost along the way as Lovell continued to explain, they still paid tried to follow Lovell's explanation, "Mama also said that for the past six million years she had been forcefully reincarnated by someone who wants to take revenge on her for some reason." They could tell that he did not have the reason why this was.

Lovell fell silent as they looked at each other. "So that's Lunatica and her story—well, from the bits we could understand anyway." Margret's stood up, grabbing Lovell's dishes. Then turning to Henry, "honey, could you take Lovell to bed? It is getting quite late." Nodding, he gestured to Lovell to follow him. Lovell stood up and followed Henry to the room he was going to stay.

Opening the door, Lovell could see it was the room that their child had slept. Looking at the bed, Lovell notices some night clothes laid out. Henry let Lovell that he pulled them out for him to wear for the night. Until they took him shopping for clothes that would be more of his preference. Lovell thanked Henry for their hospitality. With a smile, Henry closed the door as he said goodnight to Lovell. The room was nice and big compared to the one he had in Backlight. Though it was unsettling to him the size of the room, he got changed into the nightclothes. Weary from the ordeal, he laid down while his eyes grew heavy as his head hit the pillow, falling into a deep slumber.

While the night dragged on, Lovell began to tossed and turn in his sleep. Within moments, Lovell awoke, pale and cold as he curled up in a ball. After a while, Lovell calmed himself down, and he hopped out of bed. Lovell walked over to the door. Creaking the door open, she had decided to check on Luna. Lovell walked down to her room and opened the door slowly. He could see that she was sleeping soundly. A sense of pride washed over him while he looked at the life that he saved. Her soft snores were enough the comfort him in the dark.

Lovell glanced over at the open window. He decided to walk around, not wanting to leave Luna just yet. Looking out, Lovell noticed that the moon, Juna, was full that night, while Larin was waxing. He remembered a small prayer his mother taught him. Lovell closed his eyes and began to pray that Luna would grow up and be a kind and generous person. Lifting his head, Lovell looked back over towards Luna. Lovell furrowed his brow when he noticed a faint glow coming from her. Lovell stood confused before Lovell started to walked over to see what the light was.

As Lovell looked over, his eyes widened when he saw a mark on her little chest. It was the very mark of Lunatica. Lovell stood staring at the symbol in Luna's chest, knowing what it meant for her. He looked at her sleeping face. Lovell placed his finger in her tiny hand. She grasped it gently, smiling as he rested his head next to her.

'It is hard to believe!'. Lovell began to think to himself. 'I save Lunatica's reincarnation!' Looking over, as he rests his head on his arm, 'I swear, Luna. I will stay by your side always. I will make sure that I will help you grow up strong and kind within all my power, Luna. Until the very day, you pass on of old age. I promise.' Suddenly Lovell heard a commotion coming from the room he was staying and carefully removing his finger from Luna's grasp.

He quietly snuck back to see what the commotion was. Lovell peered into the room to see two men, both cloaked, looking around. One was standing over at the bed, flipping the covers, and then placing a hand on where Lovell was lying. Lovell stood still as fear gripped him, watching the men go through the room.

"So, they have company. They must have got up fairly recently," the man looked over to the nightstand noticed Lovell's letter from his mother.

Lovell's hands began to sweat, as she knew if he was caught, he might be killed. Lovell's hand slipped without notice, losing his footing in the process, while he stumbled in. Lovell froze in place, staring, while one of the cloaked men rushed towards him. Drawing his blade while Lovell could not move.

"Stop, Ark!" the man over by the bed barked.

Ark stopped his dagger inches from Lovell's neck. Looked over to his comrade, "He'll rat us out! Boss, we need to be rid of— " Ark tried to argue.

"Then let's take him then. He's clearly not theirs." Glancing over to Lovell, "Besides, we already know that their boy died a week ago." Ark scoffed as he went to find something of value in the room. Were as his boss shifted over to Lovell. Lovell stood still, frozen in fear as the man drew closer. The man looked deep into Lovell's eyes.

"He's got good eyes." The man commented as Ark looked over, grunted at Lovell in displeasure. "you'll be coming with us, boy." The man punched Lovell in the gut hard enough that Lovell passed out. Shortly after, Luna began to cry. The man looked over to the doorway as he turned to Ark., "Let's leave. We got more than we came for."

Ark nodding, as he jumped out the window. The man flings Lovell over his shoulder as he retreated to the window. The man looked back once more to make sure no one was coming before jumping out of the window. The man landed beside Ark looked over at Lovell.

"Why take the boy, Morris?" Ark growled.

"Because he has a fire in his eyes." Morris grinned. "and I said we were going to take him. That is why." Ark was not happy about gaining heave luggage with them. He could only growl in his disapproval while they made their way back to camp.

Shortly after they left with Lovell, Margret woke from Luna's cries. Margret walked into the room and picked Luna up. Rocking her as she soothed Luna, Margert then decided to check in on Lovell. While she entered the room, she noticed that Lovell wasn't there. Check around, she saw that there were two pairs of footprints within the room Lovell was sleeping. She ran to Henry, yelling that Lovell was kidnapped. Henry jumped out of bed, threw his robe on. Frantically searching for Lovell, but the men who took Lovell made it back to their encampment. Long after they began their search, devastated, they cried on their doorsteps. The two men made it back, bound Lovell's hands, and laid him down in a bed.

Dawn came as Lovell slowly opened his eyes. While Lovell woke up, he tried to gather his bearings, remembered that he was knocked out by one man. Lovell felt something around his hands. Lovel looked down to see that they were bound. Lovell then glanced around, checking his surroundings. He saw a man sitting in a chair.

The man's face was filled with disgust while he stared at Lovell in the corner. He could tell the man was a Dracoman by his horns and wing. Lovell then sheepishly sat on the bed while another man—A human with ginger hair—walked in. The ginger hair man was followed by two others— an elven woman with mossy-green hair and a half-elf man with silky black hair.

The Dracoamn sitting in the corner scoffed at them, saying that Lovell had just woken. The Human nodded, telling him that he was relieved of his duty. The dracoman nodded as he stepped out of the room. The Human walking over to Lovell and sat a bowl of food down on the table. Lovell looked up at the man, a confused and fearful look dragged across his face. The half-elf leaned on the wall, and the woman cheerfully sat beside Lovell, smiling. Lovell slinked away from the woman. As he was unsure what to think of the situation, Lovell became scared of what would happen to him now.

The elven woman leaned in as she smiled at him, "My name's Kana, the one from before was Ark," Her smile made him uncomfortable, as Lovell tried to move away from her. He became wary of his new company as they stared at him. He notices the one along the wall had a faint smile. While the half-elf sat down from where Ark was sitting earlier, he had a more composed look. Kana then gestured over the one leaning, "The one over there is Lau," moving her hand over, "and this is our boss." Allowing him to introduce himself.

"Morris." the ginger-haired man introduced himself.

A subtle growl came from the direction of Lovell's stomach; the three stared at him while they started to laugh. Realizing that his hunger spoke louder than his words. "You must be hungry?" Lau chuckled. Lovell turned beet red while he looked down at his hands. Lau stood up and mover over, drawing his pocketknife and then cutting Lovell's hands-free. "The boss seems to like the look in your eyes." Lovell sat there as Morris handed him the food. Looking at the food, Lovell didn't hesitate to wolf it down as they watched him.

"So, what's your name?" Kana drew even closer; Lovell was noticeably uncomfortable with her being near.

"Back off, Kana!" Morris order

"Sorry, boss." She had a playful look on her face. She moved away.

Lovell finished his food as he glanced around before looking back at Morris. "It's Lovell, Lovell Krisnik." His eyes filled with a flame inside them as he waited to find an escape route.

Morris scoffed a smile. Looking at Lovell. "Krisnik, huh?" Morris seemed enthralled by his last name. Lovell became curious about Morris's reaction towards his surname. "You're more of a score than I had originally thought." As Morris turned to Kana.

Lovell, confused from his comment, stared at Morris. Lau seemed to have a grin of pleasure written across his face. Kana tilted her head as she stared at Lovell.

Swallowing his fear, Lovell looked at Morris. "What do you want from me?" Fearing that they would turn him into a slave or sell him as a slave, staring intently at Morris.

Morris stood up and walked over to Lovell. "I want to make you my apprentice." Leaning over as the words rolled out of his mouth. Lovell became confused as he stared at Morris. "Now," Morris stood up straight, "get dressed. Your training starts today, Lovell." Morris smirk before heading for the door.

Lovell watched as, one by one, the three left the room. Lovell looked over to see the set of clothes. Displeasure was written on his face as he put the clothes on. But to his surprise, they were both comfortable and his size. From the corner of his eye, he notices a mirror off in the corner. Lovell looked at himself over as he bound his long, blonde hair up into a simple ponytail. Then began to proceed towards the door, with Ark was waiting for him. Lovell had hoped that no one was outside, so he could make his escape back to Luna.

Ark made it clear with a grim expression that he did not like Lovell at all. Reluctantly Lovell followed Ark out to the yard. As they walked down the hall, he found that the building was run down. He was suspecting that they were camping out at the location. While they walked past a group of people, he noticed different races within their gang. From Demons to Beastman, elves, and humans, all chatting as they were glancing at him. They look rather happy to see a new face, it seemed.

As they reached outside, Ark walked him to the training ground. Lovell looked over to see Morris waiting while he chatted with another of his men. Morris caught a glance of Lovell. Morris finished their conversation, the man nodding as he walks away. Morris bows before Morris walked over to Lovell. Morris held a letter in his hand; then, he showed the letter to Lovell.

"Have you read the letter." Lovell recognized it as he stared at it. Lovell stared, waiting to take the letter back from his mother's letter. Lovell then turned to Morris as he shook his head slowly to the question. A fire burned in Lovell's eyes. Morris's face stiffened, "Don't worry, I never opened it though it wasn't sealed either." Lovell went to snatch the letter from Morris. But was smacked with the letter by Morris instead. "Can you read?" Lovell was lowering his gaze growling at the question. Morris sighed, knowing the answer. "Well, that won't do at all."

Lovell looked for an opportunity to grab the letter, "So, what do you really want me for?" Lovell was questioning his words earlier.

Morris walked up to Lovell, holding the letter in his face. "I made a promise to long ago to your birth mother—if anything happened to Marie, the woman who raised you till now—I was to teach you how to fight." Lovell's eyes widened as he lowered his head. Morris's words stunned him as he released that Morris was a friend of his mother's.

Lovell's eyes then filled with untamed fire as he looked up at Morris. "Then teach me how to kill those bastards!" Lovell raged. "That's your purpose, right—"

Morris grabbed a wooden sword and tossed it at Lovell. "No, not for revenge, Lovell. There is much you need to learn before you are even ready. But for now, you need to see the bigger picture." Ruffling Lovell's hair, while Lovell pushed his hand away. "You are so much like her. It's uncanny. I will tell you everything once you turn twenty. If that's alright?"

Lovell nodded, his rage towards the Faremin people built, as he readied for the training. Morris smiled as he turned to revile a practice dummy standing behind him. Patting Lovell on the shoulder charged forward, Morris grabbed a stick, whacking him for every wrong move.