#planttober 2022 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aewd2812 · 2 years

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Poppy

Based on the Planttober of @palepinkycat. I'm not sure whether I'm going to do everything or just a few. Their prompt list was very interesting. Or is it just I was very inspired for this one?

Masterlist

This prompt has some triggering subjects.

Poppy – mysticism, dream, eternal sleep, bridge between life and death.

“Are you kidding me! What kind of remedy is that! You should just ask us to die along! At least it would be clear!”

Matthew shouted at the restrained traitor. If he hadn’t claimed to know the sole remedy to Alice’s sickness, he would have already lost his life. Lucien’s tiredly pale face did not react at such a loud shout. Sitting at her bedside and holding her hand in his, he had been praying all day and night long during the past few days.

“… It doesn’t matter whether Emile’s words are false or not. If you don’t want to save her, I will. It has been my duty all along.”

At his words, Matthew turned around, ready to grasp him by the collar, only to be stopped at the sight. He knew how much she represented for the so-called butler. It wasn’t just mere duty as he claimed it to be. As much as he hated to say it, Lucien would always love her unconditionally, more than any of them could ever love her. Lucien state showed just as much. This was the reason for his stillness.

“… Haa.” Matthew sighed, brushing nervously his hair back as a habit of his. “I know I can’t stop you. But no matter what happens, please remember what Alice wants before all. You… honestly look like shit.”

“… thank you.”

As usual, only when the subject of concern was Alice, would these two ever agree on the same things. They may play around as rivals and protectors, it was a mutual agreement. Rising her hand for a last time to his forehead, Lucien stood up and turned to Matthew.

“Then, I should go. Are you staying?”

“I hate it, but I should. You know her better than I do.” He then muttered a curse in a low voice, before speaking out loud once again, causing everyone to smile a bit. “If you are going, I should stay to take care of the HQ. You may be a better assistant than me, but I can do all of a leader’s work. So, bring her back. Or I’m going in there to kill you myself.”

A smile showed up on Lucien’s face, before turning to Esther, who was holding the small vial of medicine. He nodded once and reached for the medicine before drinking its content.

His vision went dark. Faintly, he was really glad for the amazing family he had come to cherish, who was ready to trust him, wait for him and still love him despite his issues.

***

Alice had once told this to Lucien.

“My mind space? I have a lot of bad memories and I can’t remember colours. So… If I do have one, mine should be in different shades of black. And… maybe a lot of doors? Or a cabinet with many drawers?”

That had been her answer. Which was why Lucien was rather taken aback at the sight laid in front of him.

As soon as he had opened his eyes in such a space, the first thing he noticed was how bright it was. Instead of a colourless space filled in black, there was a bright light. Similar to the real world but faded. All the colours were in pastel colours rather than bright sparkly ones. The second thing he noticed was the place he was in. It was somewhere he often heard of, but only stepped in for a few times.

It was none other than Strette Town. Alice’s childhood town. The place where all citizens avoided, whether they were of noble status or not. Not only were there crimes everywhere, but it was an insalubrious place. Lucien could hear his heart throbbing in his chest. Of all of what he expected, he somehow didn’t expect this town. The place where this Alice, may not be the one he had come to cherish and love. Maybe Matthew would have been a better choice for this. Matthew had always been better at understanding the lower class’s mentality and system.

Shaking his head, Lucien focused again on his goal. He had to find her and bring her back.

***

It was hard. No matter where he searched, no matter who he asked, there was no one who had remembered her. He didn’t expect much in such a town, but there was not a single trace of her. The rain had begun to pour, and even if the ground was unpaved, the footsteps and the already confusingly mixed smells had already disappeared, covered by the heavy humidity of the rain. Was there no solution? Was she bound to die with useless efforts?

Just as he was contemplating, never giving up – he was not one to give up on her, he began to hear it after closing his eyes.

‘I don’t want to die.’

It was a younger voice. Softer and higher than he remembered. A clear chime. It was her for sure. There was no one else who could seep and shake his emotions like this. It was a desperate and determined voice.

‘I don’t want to die.’

“I’m coming for you.”

As soon as it rang a second time in his head, he dashed toward where the voice was pulling him to. It was the first clue he had since coming here, and he was not ready to lose it anytime soon.

‘Please, someone… Anyone… Please kill me. I don’t want this… pain!’

After knocking into yet another civilian, Lucien jumped up on the roof. He didn’t have the time to apologize to every single passenger he knocked over. He had to move, and fast.

‘Gods… Devil… If you exist… no… you don’t…’

From the voice alone, he knew he was near her now. The houses had begun to reduce into piles of rubbles. She should be just around the corner. Just as he stepped forward, his heart stopped breathing. He tried to deny it. But it was there. An older man, eyes and hair of the same colour as Alice, barely taller than him was standing over her. Or better yet, he was holding her by the arm, the other one punching repeatedly on her. All over her. Her face, her stomach and even her legs. They were all covered in reddened bumps that were bound to bruise. Bruises that won’t disappear the next day, but after several days.

‘Why? Why are you hitting me?’

“It’s because I care for the family, and especially you. Don’t worry! After I’m done with you, you will grow some sense in you.”

Without even noticing, Lucien lunged forward, eyes seeing red. His clenched fists punched out repeatedly at the man who claimed to be her family, jaw clenched in an equally same tightness. After the first few hits, the man was already knocked out, but Lucien didn’t notice. He wanted this man gone from both his memory, but more importantly from her memory as well. If he could erase this man’s existence as well as the trauma he caused her, he was ready to fall in hell with him. For her, he was ready to do everything.

“Hic.”

As he snapped his eyes to the small noise, his eyes softened in guilt. The younger Alice was covering her mouth with both of her hands, fear still present in her eyes.

‘Am I going to get hit by him too? He doesn’t look like that though… Although he did hit him…’

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

It was unbearable for him to hear these kinds of thoughts. It was never his intention to hurt her, nor to scare her. The young girl, noticing his eyes on her, immediately adopted a poker face. It was done so swiftly and in such perfection, Lucien could have doubted his eyes, had he not known better.

‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t know him. Whether it’s today or tomorrow, whether it’s big brother or someone else… I will die either way.’

If it was fear of a stranger, Lucien could arrange that.

“My name is Lucien. From now on, if you would like it, I will protect you from any harm.”

‘Protection is another word for controlling me. My schedule, my actions… My mind. Never. I’m never going to let them again.’

As the adrenaline dropped, he had thought it would be easier to convince and bring her back, but this was dangerous. It was going in a dangerous way.

“I’m not going to control you. I’m just…”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence. She had stood up and ran to the edge of the grass-filled cliff. In a hurry, he stood up just as fast to catch up on her, before living a few meters away from her, in fear of scaring her even more.

‘I’m a coward anyway. I know I won’t be able to refuse them. I might as well disappear just as she said. Maybe… Maybe at that time, they would regret it enough… to stop hurting all the people around us…’

“Alice… Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this.”

‘How does this guy keep hearing…’

“Come back to us. We will protect you. And if it’s too much, we will immediately stop.”

For the first time since entering this dream-like state, the younger Alice spoke up.

“Liars exist everywhere.”

It was barely louder than a mutter. Clearly meant to be heard, but at the same time feared of being heard.

“Think about it! Remember about us! Matthew! Sacha!”

It was a wild bet. But at this time, Lucien didn’t have any choice. Everything happening was out of his control. He was playing all of his cards at the same time. Time was running short and if there was any misstep, any small mistake on his part, he could lose both his life and hers. Her precious life could never compare to his.

Alice blinked a few times, suddenly eyes blurring in remembrance. Did she remember them? Did she remember anything?

“Remember when we were all fighting over the last piece of pizza! Or remember when Esther learnt about sex ed!”

It was really a tangled mess of ideas. If Matthew were to see his state, dishevelled with an incomprehensible mind state, he would have laughed until there would be no tomorrow.

“Lu… Lucien?”

It was an unvoiced question. But he could already see the change. Instead of the younger Alice that stood in front of him, mere seconds before, there was the Alice that he knew, looking up at him with teary doe eyes. He couldn’t stop the softness in his voice.

“Alice… Do you remember now?”

The blinking and confused eyes focused more and more. It was a good sight.

“I-… What are you doing here? What… What happened?”

A relieved smile showed up on Lucien’s face before panic began once again. The ground had begun to shake. The ceiling, which was supposed to be the sky, began to break and chunks of it began to fall. It was the end. They had to get out one way or another.

“I have a lot to explain, but for now, let’s get out.”

Looking up in realisation, she smiled.

“Don’t worry I got this.”

In a single hand gesture, everything disappeared.

“Tell me everything.”

She was amazing.

#prompt #writing #original characters #k-board #poppy #planttober 2022 #tw: violence #tw: mental health

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