An Eye For An Eye

Lithia got up early during the wee hours and wanted to fulfil her task like she promised. She put on the cloak from the night before and took her wand with her. 

"Luar." She called out, gently nudging the cat. 

Luar woke up with a hiss as it crawled away from Claude's grasp. "If we leave without a word he'd get angry."

Lithia nodded and within a few seconds, she had finished writing a note. "This'll do. I hope we won't take long."

Luar and Lithia left, and headed to the front gate where all the guards stood. They all were diligent and sharp.

"Leaving? Please indicate the purpose of your trip." The guard asked, looking at Lithia whose face was covered by the cloak and back at the small black cat.

"Do I need to request permission?" Lithia took off her hood. Her earrings glowing. It had a small imprinted word on the plates of gold but the guards immediately understood.

Luar closed its eyes and felt its body transforming into its main form. It grew much larger in size but still retained the shiny signature fur. A black panther. It's eyes glowing a midnight blue.

"Pardon me. I'm sorry for my impoliteness. Please be on your way." The guard bowed to half his height while his body shrunk. He couldn't believe he had just met such an important figure!

His other comrades followed along and felt a chill in the air. They bowed even lower.

"Lead me to the underground prison." Lithia ordered, putting back her hood. 

"But it's not safe for you in th-" The guard snapped his body straight while worry filled his eyes. He stopped himself when he realised he had just spoken back to a person with such a high authority.

"Lead me." Lithia repeated, her voice loud and clear this time.

At least 5 guards followed her, close but leaving her and her panther enough space to freely move around. It was obvious they had gotten rather strict orders.

They all walked through the hallway of cells. It smelled of rotting body odours mixed with stale air. 

Luar was walking ahead of Lithia, keeping an eye out for Kai. It sniffed the air and still couldn't figure out where the boy was. It then spotted white hair sticking out from one of the jail cells.

'Kai. I'm here.' Luar called out. Glad to know he was conscious to hear its voice.

Luar picked up the pace, forcing everyone to follow it's rhythm. Who or what was it looking at?

Kai looked outside in between the metal bars and saw a large black panther heading towards him. In an instant, he knew who it was. The blue eyes that showed all the stars in it's irises.

"Luar." Kai said, reaching his hand out and touching the panther's sharp yet soft fur.

The guards rushed in front and one of them, with their baton, smacked the boy's hands that made contact with the precious panther's fur.

Luar hissed and Lithia got the hint. 

She pushed her hand out. "Step back and withdraw your weapons. You're hitting someone I have invited as a guest." 

The guards stood there, looking at each other worriedly. One just nodded and pulled out his keys and unlocked the cell door without being asked to.

'Sorry I came a little late.' Luar apologised, rubbing its head against Kai's palm.

Kai withdrew his arm and placed it behind his back. He bowed. "Thank you." In a robotic tone. He lifted his head and made eye contact with the madam.

The person had beautiful eyes that resembled Luar. Hair was twisted into a bun with a gold stick. While her earring that slightly poke out of her hood was embroidered with a particular pattern. Only a fool wouldn't know what it meant. 

"You're what Luar brought home?" Lithia asked, confused. She searched through her memory. She could've sworn his face was rather familiar. It resembled someone.. in a painting. Who was it exactly?

Silver white hair was rare but what made the boy more unique was his bright yellow eyes. It looked like the color of honey melting in the sunlight. 

The gears in her brain turned and connected before it clicked. The first Whitlock. The boy looked similar to the famous Whitlock that was often the subject of many paintings in the past. 

"Let's get you home and clean up. We can leave the explanations for later." Lithia said, looking at the guards.

It seemed like they had gotten the hang of it, seeing how they immediately escorted them out of the underground prison.

Before they left, Lithia seemed to have something else in mind. "Where's the apology this boy deserves?" It was phrased like a question but it felt like a demand.

"I'm sorry. This won't happen again." The guard apologised, his badge was painted in gold. Meaning he was probably one of the few leaders of the squadron. 

The other guards followed along and bowed and apologised in unison for the mix up.

Slowly, Lithia tilted her head and looked at the kid to see if he had accepted their apologies. 

Kai smiled and nodded. 

Glad that the matter was resolved, they all walked away and left the guards behind.

They all made it to the house and locked themselves in. Claude was already awake, seated on the couch and wiping his tears with tissue paper. He dropped his tissues when he saw Kai.

"Who is that?" Claude asked, looking at his grandma.

"He's.." Lithia started but shut her mouth. She just realised she hadn't caught wind of his name.

"Pleased to be your acquaintance, I'm Kai." He said it with a gentle smile as he put out his hand.

Claude slapped his hand away. "I don't want to shake hands with a commoner with no last name." He remarked.

Quickly, Lithia rushed over and covered Claude's mouth. "Where did you learn such things from?" She asked.

'Sorry. Claude is a tad bit sensitive.' Luar spoke mentally to Kai who was still smiling.

"Apologise." Lithia demanded. She held tightly onto Claude's shoulders.

Claude gritted his teeth and folded his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm Claude." It sounded like the most forced words a human being could voice out. "Claude Argentina." He repeated.

"Luar, please take..Kai to the guest bedroom. I'll get him some clothes after he finishes showering." Lithia asked, her expression desperate.

Luar walked out in front and through the hallway and stopped right outside a room.

When Kai catched up to the panther, he opened the door and let himself in.

"You got yourself a pretty nice form there." Kai stated, tucking out his shirt and unbuttoning it.

"That bruise on your face wasn't there before." Luar said, looking closely at Kai's face. Though the boy was practically made of injuries, it was obvious when another was added. He was too pale to hide it all.

"Don't worry about that." Kai said. He stepped into the bathroom and saw the bruise. 

"If it was one of the guards we could've settled it then and there." 

"Then what? He gets put in jail for a few hours for hurting a child and he gets his job back. Or I'll have to forgive him after a mere apology."

"Yes?" Luar replied, confused.

"You see Luar..I don't like the way that works." 

Luar immediately understood Kai's intent. It had stayed a week by the boy's side and knew exactly what the boy had meant. 

People usually say it's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But for him,

It's based on an entirely different logic.