Pic of Lucas Evernight  --->

16 October, 2031

Third Person’s POV

A sleek silver limousine careens through the bustling streets of Rukia, as a black Hummer rumbles ahead of it and another follows close behind the silver vehicle. The sun shines brightly on all three vehicle’s metallic surfaces, causing them to glitter impressively.

People in the streets stare at the limo curiously, whispering to their friends and trying to figure out who could be riding in such an elegant vehicle. Was there a celebrity from another place visiting their city? Surely only someone very important, or rich, would be seated inside an automobile of that calibre.

As the leading Hummer comes to a stop at a red light, the limo pausing close behind, a few people crossing the road crane their necks, trying in vain to see inside the darkly tinted windows. As soon as the light changes back to green and the crossing is no longer swimming with pedestrians, the leading Hummer roars to life, the sound of its powerful engine causing a small number of people to jump. The silver limo swiftly follows behind, looking somewhat like a shark gliding through the streets, silently stalking its prey.

The occupant of the limo leans towards the window closest to him, having to squint his eyes despite the dark tint covering it. He wasn’t used to seeing the sun shine so brightly, nor the way people were prancing down the streets in shorts and shirts. Despite it currently being Autumn in Japan, the large city of Rukia was experiencing an unusually glorious day and people were making the most of it. The man inside the limo presses himself a little closer to the window, somewhat enthralled by the red and golden tones of the leaves in the trees. They looked so strange, as if someone had taken a paintbrush to them and splashed them with an array of different earthy colours.

“Yes sir” a deep voice suddenly says from the seat opposite the man, causing his eyes to flick away from the window, “We should be there in another five minutes. Ten at the most.”

“Excellent!” a faint voice replies, pleased with the news. “We anxiously await your arrival.”

The man leans back in his seat and watches the male opposite him, as he lowers the phone from his ear and places it in a hidden pocket on the inside of his suit. The suited man adjusts his dark shades and turns his head towards the man he’d been ordered to find.

“We’re almost at the Lightenhart’s Estate sir” he informs the man blandly, to which the man nods and goes back to looking out of the window.

A six year old Lucas sits comfortably in a large armchair, snuggled back into its cushions as he watches a documentary on the giant television screen in the family room. Seeing as the weather was so unusually warm that day, the maids hadn’t bothered to light the fireplace, leaving it a sad, blackened hole. Lucas rather enjoyed having the fire lit, as it gave off a comforting warmth and the sound of the crackling flames relaxed him.

“Lucas honey?” a soft female voice asks, causing Lucas to blink and glance up at the archway entrance of the room. He smiles faintly, seeing his Mother standing in the doorway, a closed eye smile on her face. She pushes some of her incredibly long, ebony hair back over her shoulder, before opening her eyes.

“I’m just letting you know” she begins kindly, hoping her son will be happy about her news, “That Dominic-sama received a call a few minutes ago. They’ll be back from the airport soon.”

Lucas immediately stiffens, his eyelids drooping into their usually hooded state. The boy looks away from his Mother, ice blue eyes immediately losing their look of curiosity.

“Already?” he eventually asks, to which Sydney sighs quietly and gives her son a troubled look. “….That was very quick.”

“I don’t know why you’re so opposed to it honey” Sydney says softly, stepping further into the room after quickly glancing down the hallway. She didn’t want anyone to hear her young son talking in such a way.

“It was going to happen one day” the dark haired woman adds, giving Lucas a troubled look. “It’s tradition for an Evernight to become the Shield of a Lightenhart…….It’s really not as bad as you think sweetheart….”

Lucas shrugs one of his shoulders, though the movement is so minute, it would be forgivable to think that the boy hadn’t moved.

“You know what I think about Wielders” the young boy murmurs blandly, sounding far wiser than a six year old should. “I never wanted this-”

“Lucas” Sydney cuts in sharply, giving the boy a disapproving look. “I’m not going to have this conversation with you again, okay? I’m very sorry that you’re not happy about this, but this tradition has been going on between our families for generations. I don’t want to hear anything more on the subject, especially since they’re almost here. Do you understand young man?”

Lucas’s hands clench into tight fists, the boy’s jaw setting in place. He merely gives a nod of his head, unable to speak for fear of saying something that might upset his Mother further. Though he wasn’t happy with the arrangement and didn’t always agree with her views, Lucas still loved and held great respect for his Mother. He didn’t like making her raise her voice.

Sydney gives a low sigh of relief and nods, wiping her hands on the front of her dress, as if dusting away imaginary crumbs. Opening her mouth to say something else, Sydney pauses, seeing the strained look on her son’s face. He looked as though he were struggling with something, but didn’t want to mention anything to her. Sydney closes her mouth and shakes her head subtly. She probably didn’t want to know what Lucas was thinking right now. For some reason he was very much opposed to becoming a Shield, something that both Sydney and Coltan found very strange. They had both grown accustom to being Shield, and rather enjoyed helping make their Wielder’s lives easier.

Once, in a heated moment of frustration, a five year old Lucas had shouted that Sydney and Coltan were slaves with no minds of their own. The two Evernights had been shocked to say the least, but they were just glad that Lucia and Dominic hadn’t heard. They surely wouldn’t have been impressed to hear such words, especially coming from an angry little child. If she was honest, Sydney had been rather hurt when Lucas had practically called her a brainwashed drone, despite the numerous times he had hugged her and tearfully apologised.

Without so much as another word, Sydney turns and leaves the room, heading off to find Lucia, her Wielder. Only after his Mother leaves does Lucas let out a low breath, momentarily closing his eyes and uncurling his fingers from their balled up position. No doubt his Mother was upset, but at least he’s managed to keep his mouth closed this time. He didn’t want to say anything hurtful to her again.

Opening his eyes, Lucas shuts off the television and slides down from the large armchair. Placing his hands in his pockets, Lucas slowly makes his way out of the family room and into the foyer, where they would no doubt be arriving any minute now. Maids and security guards stride through the foyer swiftly, hurrying to get last minute preparations finished. They ignore Lucas’s presence as he walks right up to one of the high glass windows beside the front door, peering out into the huge front garden.

As Lucas continues looking through the window, he suddenly sees a large, black vehicle pull up outside the front gates, followed by an impressive, silver limo and another black car, identical to the first. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Lucas watches as Berle suddenly appears before the wrought iron gates, three other security guards behind him. As the men eventually open the gates, the three vehicles make their slow way up to the house, the white pebbles of the path crunching beneath their tyres.

Sighing to himself, Lucas abruptly turns away and heads down a hallway, looking down as maids rush to disappear from view and security guards line up in the foyer.

“Someone inform Dominic-sama and Lucia-sama that they have arrived!” a man shouts over the clattering of feet on the foyer’s marbled floor.

“Great…” Lucas mutters under his breath, pausing in front of a large door and glancing up. He narrows his eyes at the name plate hanging from the door, before turning the handle and slowly pushing it open. The door opens with a soft whoosh sound, as Lucas steps into the dimly lit room. He closes the door quietly behind him and leans his back against it, taking note of the fact that all of the curtains are closed.

‘It must be nap time’ Lucas thinks dryly, glancing around the pale blue room and seeing that the curtains seem to be moving slightly. ‘And someone has left a window open…….’

The boy shakes his head, but makes no move to close the open window. If someone were to break in and steal the baby, he wouldn’t have to become its Shield. It may have been a rather harsh way to think, but Lucas had a serious problem with this arrangement. Why should he have to give up all of his hopes and dreams, just to protect this baby that would probably grow up to be a rotten, spoiled little brat?

Narrowing his eyes at the expensive looking wooden crib on the left side of the room, Lucas makes his slow way over to it, making sure to remain quiet. The crib, which had been painted white, has a large, chiffon canopy hanging over it, pale pink ribbons lining the hem of the material.

Pushing the veil of half transparent material, Lucas stands up on his toes and looks down into the crib, seeing the tiny face of a sleeping toddler. His hard look softens somewhat, as the child sighs in its sleep and turns over, its golden blonde locks pooling beneath its head.

“So young and innocent…” Lucas murmurs, before frowning. “Yet you’re gonna grow up to be pushy, mean bully that’ll just have to get your way….Just like your Dad.”

The child sighs dreamily, snuggling further down into its thick blankets and making Lucas’s frown turn more thoughtful.

“Just think…” he says slowly, a troubled look on his face as he looks down at the two year old child, “If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t have to give up my freedom……Maybe…Maybe when Lucia-sama comes to get you, you’re face down on your pillow?....Or your blankets got tangled around your neck….Hmm…..”

As six year old Lucas struggles with his train of thought, wondering whether his freedom was worth killing the child for, it suddenly opens its eyes. Lucas’s breath catches in his throat, and he freezes, waiting for the child to begin screaming or crying.

The child however, does neither of those things, content to just stare up at Lucas, it’s teal eyes large and full of curiosity. The child suddenly grins cutely, throwing its hands up towards Lucas and making him reel backwards from the crib.

“Yewcus” the toddler giggles, trying to pronounce the raven haired boy’s name. “Hi Yewcus!”

Lucas remains silent, staring at the child unsurely, before slowly sitting down on the soft carpet, close to the crib. The toddler, delighted by Lucas’s closeness, wriggles out from under its blankets and crawls over to the side of its crib.

“Hi Yewcus!” it repeats happily, eyes sparkling as it reaches between the bars of its crib and waves at Lucas, who flinches backwards. “Yewcus…..Say hi!”

“Yes…..” Lucas says slowly, still hesitant about talking to the child. “Hello…..Alice.”

The child’s eyes widen at the sound of her name, before she sits back down and claps her hands, laughing happily.

“Yewcus say hi to Ayice!” she cheers, a ghost of a smile gracing Lucas’s face, before the door to Alice’s room suddenly flies open. Lucas can’t help jumping at the sound, his head turning around to see who had burst into the room.

“Lucas!” Coltan breathes, before pausing and glancing between his son and Alice. “What are you doing in here?”

The surprise drops from Lucas’s face, the boy hooding his eyes as he pushes himself to his feet and turns around to face his Father.

“I was just visiting Alice” Lucas replies simply, earning a confused look from his Father.

“Oh” Coltan says, after a brief pause. “It’s just that….Well….You never visit Alice…..But that’s not why I was looking for you! I’m supposed to find you and bring you down to the basement. The Co-”

“I know” Lucas interrupts softly, hanging his head and clenching his hands into fists. “The Contractor is here….”

Coltan tilts his head to the side, giving his son a sympathetic, yet slightly troubled, look. He knew Lucas wasn’t looking forward to becoming Alice’s Shield, but that was just the way things were. They were always going to be this way, whether the Lightenhart’s had had a baby earlier or later. It was the tradition between the Evernight and Lightenhart families after all. It was bad luck to break such a long running tradition.

“Look Champ…” Coltan begins warmly, crouching down and placing a hand on his son’s shoulder, “It’s not gonna be that bad, alright? I mean, your Mother and I are still happy aren’t we? We’ve got everything we ever needed or wanted right here in Dominic-sama’s home.”

“What about your dream of being a Musician?” Lucas asks lowly, though it sounds like he’s speaking through clenched teeth. “You always wanted that to come true. Did it?”

Coltan pauses, his navy eyes widening for a moment. Lucas was right, he had wanted to become a famous Musician when he was younger. But that was when Coltan was young and silly, not taking his duties as Dominic’s Shield seriously.

“I have a new dream now son” Coltan says slowly, carefully thinking about what words to use. “My dream is to protect Dominic-sama to the best of my ability. That’s what a Shield does.”

“Then why are you just his servant?” Lucas whispers angrily, making Coltan sigh deeply and retract his hand from the boy’s shoulder. The man rises to his feet and runs a hand through his shiny hair, brows furrowing slightly. He wasn’t going to respond this time. Last time, it had just become a full blown argument, and Coltan didn’t have the time to deal with Lucas right now.

“Shield’s and servants are too different things” Coltan eventually says, as Lucas raises his head and glares down the hallway, past Coltan.

“Yeah” the boy replies lowly, crossing his arms. “Servants actually get respect.”

Coltan briefly closes his eyes, a dull ache of pain in his heart. He loved his son, so much more than the boy realised, and Coltan hated to see the things he seemed to be struggling with and the things that were playing on his mind. For such a young kid, Lucas seemed to understand so much and already had his own views on the world. Even if Coltan had an army, he didn’t think he could persuade his stubborn son to think any differently.

“Hi Cohtan!” Alice chirps, making Coltan’s eyes flick open. A goofy smile crosses his face at the sight of the adorable child waving at him, a closed eye smile on her face.

“Hiya Alice” the raven haired man chuckles, causing Lucas to glance back over his shoulder and glare at the tiny blonde girl. How could his Father be so nice to her? She was about to become his Wielder. She would own him, as if he were just some pathetic piece of property. He would merely exist to make Alice’s life easier, like Lucas’s parents existence consisted of doing jobs for Dominic and Lucia they couldn’t be bothered doing.

‘Why do they even need Shields?’ Lucas wonders, watching Alice laugh as Coltan walks over and begins pulling faces at her. ‘They’ve never been attacked or anything even once in their lives. What are we protecting them from?.....’

“Hey!” a sharp voice suddenly snaps, making Alice, Coltan and Lucas look up, only to see an angry looking maid. “Leave Alice-sama alone and get downstairs Coltan. You know that you Evernights aren’t allowed to take care of Lucia-sama’s daughter.”

Lucas inwardly scowls at the maid as she scurries into the room and picks Alice up from her crib, holding the girl protectively against her chest.

“Now go down to the basement” the rude maid orders. “And don’t forget to take your son with you!”

“My apologies Kara-chan” Coltan says sincerely, nodding his head. “We didn’t mean any harm to Alice-sama. We’ll be off then! Come on Lucas.”

That said, Coltan whirls around and grabs his son’s hand, tugging him from Alice’s room and back down the hallway.

“Why did you let her talk to you like that Dad?” Lucas asks once the maid is out of earshot. “She was really rude!”

“We’re Shields Lucas” Coltan says wearily, tired of talking about this sort of thing with his son. “We do what we’re told.”

“But you’re not her Shield!” Lucas argues. “You shouldn’t let her-”

“We do what we’re told” Coltan repeats darkly, looking down and giving his son a stern look. “Look son….You’ll understand when you’re a little older, okay? Now let’s just drop it. We’ve got something important to focus on instead.”

Lucas stares up at his Father for a few moments, before looking down and shaking his head. Lucas already understood the way things worked, and he didn’t like it one bit. It was his Father who didn’t seem to understand.

“Alright Dad” Lucas replies softly, shoulder slumping in defeat as Coltan pulls open a heavy wooden door, revealing a set of stone steps leading down into a darkened room.

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