KINTSUkuroi
[Prologue III] - Shattered Bonds

Savan had to do a double-take: she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her facial expression reflected as much: she wasn't expecting this.

"Come again, sweetheart?" Savan requested for Ciel to repeat herself.

"Nicolas is crying! He suddenly sat down in a corner in my bedroom and started crying! At first it was barely audible, but then he broke into tears! I didn't know what to do so I came to you for help!" Ciel explained.

Dr. Asbal seemed to have overheard Ciel's words as she spoke to Savan over the phone.

"There's no need to be alarmed. In fact, hearing this puts my mind at ease. This is the best news we could have received." Emilia commented.

"What do you mean?" Savan inquired, raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

"It's quite simple, actually. Nicolas has been trying to suppress his own feelings for who-knows-how-long. Think of it as a glass in which you constantly pour water. What do you think will happen when you pour more water than the glass can contain?" the doctor proposed an analogy to illustrate her point.

"I see. That makes sense. But how can we help him now that his feelings have poured out?" Savan asked Dr. Asbal.

"The best thing you can do is be there for him. Nicolas is desperately trying to be strong, to convince himself that he's strong so that he will be able to endure everything that life has thrown and will continue to throw at him. If you could get him to understand that relying on others doesn't mean being weak, and that in fact being able to trust others is an essential need for life, it would be our ultimate victory. Of course, that's far easier said than done." Emilia explained.

"We need to come up with a very solid plan. If we make the slightest mistake we may risk him not trusting us ever again." Savan said.

"Indeed. We should take things one step at a time. For now, showing him that he has people who care about him, who will do their best for his sake, is more than enough." Dr. Asbal proposed.

"I understand. I'll make sure that his needs will be satisfied." Savan promised.

"I appreciate it, but this IS a major imposition, Mrs. Surelle. Are you certain you want to do this?" Emilia double-checked.

"I will not lie. This certainly is a major challenge. But I must do it." Savan commented.

What she didn't know was that Nicolas happened to overhear those words. He looked down; he felt he was burdening Savan and Ciel with his presence. He had to do something about it.

In his mind, the plan was crystal clear: Savan was still talking to Dr. Asbal, and Ciel was intently listening to her mother's conversation, hoping to learn of a way to help Nicolas. It was easy enough, and soon he found himself out of the room. He was crafty; he avoided using the elevator to make sure he didn't make any unnecessary noise and instead walked down the five floors through the stairs.

Next part was trickier: he had to make sure to go unnoticed by the receptionists at the main hall. Once Savan and Ciel found out he was missing, it was only natural that they'd first turn to the receptionists for information. If they saw him, he'd be caught easily.

He hid behind a column that was near the exit, making sure he was never seen. Then he waited for a group of people to walk through the revolving door, which soon happened, and then he snuck into the group and out of the hotel.

After that, it was all smooth sailing. Buenos Aires has plenty of alleyways in which a boy could hide without being noticed. It would be bad if he was discovered by the police; he'd certainly be taken back to Savan, or worse yet, to an orphanage home.

His plan was meticulously crafted and flawlessly executed. It was hard to believe that such a complex strategy had been devised by a four-year-old. But it had been, and he had come up with it on the fly.

Back at the hotel room, Savan had finished speaking with Dr. Asbal, and she had an idea on how to help Nicolas. She went back to the bedroom to speak to him, but noticed he wasn't there. She was certainly surprised, but things took a turn for the worse when she noticed a sheet of paper with the word 'sorry' written in it, in very small letters, in the bottom-right corner. Her eyes widened; she understood what was happening as she ran towards the exit door.

"Mom! What's going on? Don't tell me..." Ciel asked, making the connection between Nic's absence and Savan's panicking expression.

"Stay here, dear. I'll be back shortly." Savan said, trying to regain her composure.

"As if!"

"What!?" Savan asked in disbelief. It was the first time Ciel directly disobeyed her order.

"Nicolas is gone, and I will find him!" Ciel asserted.

"We don't know where he is. I can't-" Savan tried to reason with her, only for her to cut him off.

"I don't care! I want to find him and make sure he's safe and sound!" Ciel said. It was clear that she wouldn't be willing to negotiate this.

"Hardheaded like your mother... I understand. Let's go, but you must promise to do everything I say, no matter what." Savan informed Ciel of her terms, to which the young girl agreed.

A few hours had gone by, now well past midnight. Nicolas struggled not to fall asleep; he had to make sure he wasn't caught. But fatigue was getting the best of him. After all, it can't be easy for a four-year-old kid to plan and execute an escape strategy to become a runaway, no matter how smart they may be. He was tired; he was hungry; he was lonely... but he also felt this was for the best. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about becoming a burden to anyone ever again.

"So that's where you were."

Or so he thought.

Looking at the person who spoke —though he didn't need to— he gasped. He wasn't supposed to be found, at the very least not so soon.

"How-?" he tried to ask when Ciel slapped him hard across the face.

"What do you think you're doing!? Leaving like that, without warning us, with just a lame note that was barely readable! What's wrong with you!?"

"I-" he tried to reply but Ciel cut him off again, this time by pulling him into a hug.

"I was worried about you!" she exclaimed.

"How can you be worried about me? You don't even know me." Nic retorted bluntly.

"No. I do know you. I know the kind of person you are. I know that you want to look strong, and so you try not to cry, but when you broke into tears at my bedroom, I knew that you were just scared." Ciel explained.

"No! I..." he said before trailing off. Perhaps she was right.

"You asked how we found you so soon, did you not? Your plan was unbelievably well-thought, but after speaking to Dr. Asbal I could understand a bit more how your mind operates. You probably thought you were causing us some sort of harm by staying with us, so you left so we wouldn't need to worry about you, so that we could resume our normal lives, but unconsciously you wanted us to find you, which is why you hid near the hotel. Though your conscious mind thought we wouldn't bother searching for you in a hidden alleyway like this, deep down you hoped we would. Even if you had fled far away, we would've still looked for you no matter what." Savan explained.

"I overheard you speaking with Dr. Asbal, and saying that looking after me would be a challenge." Nicolas confessed.

"And I meant it, but I also said I must do it. Though 'must' may not be the best word: I WANT to do it. I want to look after you." Ciel's mother said.

"W-Why...?" he asked.

"Why? One, because Ciel is happy to have you with us. And two, because you deserve someone who cares for you in your life." the tall woman said in a matter-of-fact manner.

The short boy couldn't hold it in anymore and bursted into tears again, crying into Ciel's chest, who simply smiled and hugged him to reassure him.

"Let's head back to the hotel. It's very late and we should all have some rest." Savan commanded, and both kids nodded in agreement.

September 2001

It's been slightly over six months since Ciel and Nicolas had first met. In that time, both kids became very good friends. Ciel attended her first year of elementary school whilst Nicolas went through his last year of kindergarten. That was the only time throughout the day when they'd be away from each other. They enjoyed doing everything together, and by the end of March, Ciel had managed to get Nicolas to express his feelings in a healthy manner, at least around her. Nicolas would be bullied every once in a while, but Ciel would defend him, or if she couldn't, she would find out and give the bullies a beating, which in turn would get her into trouble, but she didn't seem to mind. Savan wasn't too mad about it either. In fact she was proud of her daughter, but she did advise her to be more pragmatic about how to solve these kinds of issues.

"I don't mind protecting you, Nic, but you need to start standing up for yourself." Ciel would often tell him, to which Nicolas would simply reply that he didn't like seeing others in pain. This would make Ciel slightly frustrated, but she couldn't deny she found that trait of Nicolas' to be quite endearing.

However, one day things snowballed into more than they'd be able to handle: during one such instance of Nicolas enduring the punishment his bullies dished out, Ciel rushed to his defence. But this time, there was something in Nicolas that Ciel had never seen before in any fight she had become involved in...

Nicolas' light-hued skin was tainted with red. It was unmistakably blood.

The sight of it triggered a feeling of rage within Ciel which she couldn't contain. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, clenching her fist, and then she began to...

Grow.

She grew larger, and larger, and larger still, until the bullies were ant-sized from her perspective.

That was an extremely grave mistake. Many people had watched her grow, thus revealing herself as a Giant, and therefore breaking the agreement between Humans and Giants not to venture into each other's territory.

The police arrived immediately and ordered Ciel to shrink down to Human size so that she could be restrained. Not knowing what to do, she obeyed and shrank down to her Human size, and the police took her back to Savan, despite Nicolas' desperate pleas for the law-enforcing officers to forgive his friend.

This was a massive shock to Savan, to say the least. Now everyone knew she was a Giant as well (it was surprising that they didn't notice that sooner just because of her appearance), and so she was charged with breaking the agreement between both races, for which she was obviously found guilty with no need for a trial.

As a sign of goodwill for Savan's kindness towards Humans, the punishment she was to face was very light: she and Ciel were to immediately return back to the Giants' part of the world, and would be banned from setting foot in the southern hemisphere.

Nicolas cried desperately. He knew their punishment had been considered under a merciful light, but he couldn't stand the idea of being separated from them. And conversely, Savan wasn't allowed to bring the shy boy with them to the Giants' region.

Ciel, still Human-sized, rushed towards Nicolas and hugged him tightly.

"Nic, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! But I promise you, I will see you again, no matter what it takes! So please, promise me you'll wait for our reunion! You have to promise me!" she demanded between tears.

"I... I promise...! I promise I'll wait for you, Ciel!!!" he cried into her before they were forced to separate.

The police escorted Savan and Ciel to the airport, where they'd make sure they boarded the plane to London Heathrow Airport. Nicolas, on the other side, would be assigned to an orphanage home nearby.

As they walked through the gate, the short boy knew it'd be the last time he'd see the two people who had pulled him out of the brink of emotional death, maybe... forever.

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