CHAPTER 378: PAST-4

Author’s Note- Some graphic details ahead.

Xion spent the next day being pampered by Nazia and Berry.

From food to piggyback rides, he was so happy that even as he lay on his bed to rest, his lips stayed curled in a smile.

Darius might have planned to use the little creature for his own ends, but the said angel had other plans.

Like buying a glass bottle.

He wanted to give a gift to the pretty human for letting him stay.

As he walked down the cobbled street, sunlight brushed his cheeks like a mother’s hand.

He hummed a tune — one that had no beginning or end — as he made his way toward the wooden cart with the colored bottles he had seen two days ago.

This time, the shopkeeper greeted him with a grin. "Ah, young lord! Back again? What can I get you today?"

Xion didn’t find anything strange about the greeting, or even the sudden title.

He was busy thinking of the pretty human who looked like a sword made of snow. What kind of gift would suit someone so cold and beautiful?

Just as he was pondering over the question, the shopkeeper asked, "Where are your parents, young lord?"

"They are far away."

"Here with relatives? Where are you staying?"

"No," Xion replied absentmindedly. "I spent the night with a pretty human."

His blue eyes brightened. He snapped his fingers and beamed at the shopkeeper. "Make me an Aurora!"

He might not be aware of human cultures, but he sure had seen many lands in the water curtain.

Aurora was one of the most beautiful things. A glowing light that danced across the sky like ribbons of magic.

The shopkeeper, though, wasn’t aware of what Aurora meant. "A... what?"

So, Xion had to explain what to create while answering some weird questions.

The merchant pulled together dyes, shimmer powders, and fine mist from behind the counter. Carefully, he poured the mixture into a long, tear-shaped glass bottle.

Xion held it up. The sunlight caught the colors, and for a second, it looked like the northern lights had truly been captured in glass.

"Perfect!"

He paid with a handful of gold and turned, skipping down the street with excited steps. Even his hair bounced with joy.

He didn’t get too far when a shadow swept over him. Rough cloth dropped over his head, muffling the world.

Big smelly hands gripped him — one over his mouth, others binding his arms and legs.

"Got him." A voice whispered to the other before darkness engulfed Xion.

------

Never had Xion imagined that one day he would be lined up on a secret market, about to be sold like an object.

"Humans are not like us, sweetheart."

As he curled into himself in the corner, his mother’s words echoed in his mind.

The ache from where he was hit before thrummed violently in his limbs, especially his stomach.

The prison cell he was in was dark and stinking of mold and blood.

Another prisoner was tied to the wall nearby. Xion, meanwhile, had been spared the chains digging into his skin.

Perhaps because he looked too delicate to pose a threat, other than throwing him inside after stripping him of his bag, they didn’t do much.

His resistance had only earned him a beating, the first he had ever known.

The ache in his twisted wrist burned his eyes until tears pooled up.

Another slap fell on his cheek.

His face snapped to the side. Blood trickled from his lip, and his mouth swelled so quickly it blurred his vision.

Rough fingers pinched his chin, forcing his head up.

"Not bad," the kidnapper sneered. "Good face, good hair. I could sell those eyes, if they’d just let me dig them out."

As if annoyed that he wasn’t allowed to do it, he moved to the next tied person in the damp cell.

The tall man was now wasted with hunger and covered in festering wounds.

Blonde hair, matted with dust, clung to his gaunt face. His body was bleeding in too many places to count.

A few of the dirty blonde strands were sticking to his sunken cheeks. Anyone would have been terrified, but those light blue eyes were utterly calm.

"Raymond Eldritch," the captor spat on Raymond’s face in disgust. "A traitor and a slave. Your eyes will fetch a price too."

Saying so, the kidnapper drove a knife into his thigh.

As if all too familiar with such pain, Raymond didn’t make a sound.

The kidnapper tsked. "Fucking annoying."

Then, without any warning, he used his bare hands to dig out those light blue eyes.

How had Xion managed to stop vomiting after that? He couldn’t tell.

His mother’s gentle humming lingered at the back of his mind until he couldn’t hear it over the sharp screams.

Whose were those? Maybe his or maybe Raymond’s.

The man left mumbling about the gold coins he might get, leaving the two inside the cell alone to catch a breath.

Somehow, Xion crawled forward on trembling limbs and forced his magic into the man’s body.

Disregarding Mr. Cat’s warning about never using his powers around humans, he healed the bloody body. Regrew the stolen eyes.

It hurt, Mother.

His tears fell on Raymond’s bare chest, one by one like soft rain.

But he didn’t stop until it was done. Until the gash on the thigh mended.

Raymond stared at him in stunned silence.

"Run away," Xion whispered, shoving the older man toward the broken latch. "Find the silver-haired human. Tell him... tell him to find me."

With his ankle twisted at an awkward angle, he wouldn’t be able to run away.

Raymond hesitated, then fled.

Staying in human form had limited Xion’s powers more than he had realized.

After saving the life of a human, there was no healing magic left in his core anymore.

However, even if he were to vanish, he didn’t want to go back before giving the gift to his pretty human.

The one human who had made him so happy.