“Alright, Luca, it’s time to—” I broke off when I entered his room, finding him fast asleep on his bed.
My lashes immediately lowered. “Oh, poor thing. You’re so tired.”
I stepped into the room then, settling on the bed as his expression remained relaxed, and he breathed gently.
I just brushed his hair away from his face. “Luca.”
His face scrunched in annoyance and he groaned.
“It’s time to go now,” I whispered to him. “Wake up.”
He just snuggled his face further into the mattress.
I smiled a little. “Alright. I’ll carry you then.”
I got off the bed, but immediately stopped and glanced down at the nightstand.
There were papers scattered all over it as well as an opened textbook. He had notebook papers all crunched and crumpled tossed about the floor, and his pencil looked half out of lead.
All he does is study, doesn’t he?
I mean… he hadn’t been to class in a while, so I wouldn’t blame him.
But this was probably the reason he was so tired all the time.
“Dante…?” Luca said quietly.
I glanced down at him to find him tiredly rubbing his eyes.
I smiled. “Good morning. Or should I say… good afternoon?”
“Oh, don’t get so cocky,” he snapped then, glaring at me. “I know I fell back asleep so shut it.”
I chuckled a little.
He just made an impatient sound and looked away.
“Luca,” I said softly, “I have a… proposition.”
He gazed up at me in question.
I just looked up. “Quit college,” I told him.
His eyes immediately rounded. “WHAT.”
“I can teach you,” I finished then, making him blink. “In more efficient manors. And I can teach you anything. I’ve done it before with other magical creatures… I know everything, my Lor—Luca.”
He immediately blinked and stared at me for a moment. “Were you just about to call me… your Lord?”
“Yes,” I said then, gazing up with a smirk, “would you prefer it, your short majesty?”
He just glared at me. “I hate you.”
I chuckled when he shuffled off the bed and stormed to his bedroom door.
“I mean it,” I said then, making him stop. “I can teach you.”
“What are you, a professor?”
“I mind as well be.”
“I don’t need your infuriating comments,” Luca growled then, making his way out his door.
My lips just thinned. “Do you remember nothing?”
He stopped in his tracks, glancing back at me. “What?”
“I asked, if you remember anything,” I told him.
He stared at me for a long moment, as if he was genuinely confused. “What are you going on about this time?”
I just stood and stepped over to him, making his lips part when I knelt down to his level. “Luca, weren’t you adopted?”
He blinked again. “I don’t… what?”
“You haven’t known?” I said then, brows drawing together. “Your parents were human… and your older sister, too. Don’t you remember?”
He hesitated for a second. “No… I know, but… What does that have to do with anything?”
I watched him curiously. “You remember me… don’t you?”
He stared for a long moment. “Yes… we were childhood friends. That’s how I recognized you.”
My lashes immediately lowered. “Childhood… friends…?”
He nodded.
I watched his stance, reading his expression as well as the thoughts echoing through his mind endlessly.
I closed my eyes tightly, sighing.
No… his memories are fake.
I parted my eyes then, gazing up at him. “I want to show you something.”
“Wha—”
But I scooped him up, making him scream when I half-carried him from the room.
“Dante!” he yelled then, kicking out his legs. “Where are we going?! Let me go!”
“Calm down, we’ll come back for your stuff later,” I told him then.
He just fought me, but I held onto him tightly.
Almost a minute later, we entered the streets, and he shrank back against me, not liking the cold air touching his skin. “It’s cold.”
“I know. It’s supposed to snow tonight,” I said then.
“I want to go back inside,” he told me.
I just smiled, lightly wrapping my sweatshirt around his arms as he gasped in surprise.
“I’ll keep you warm, just stop wiggling like a worm,” I said gently.
He just caught the ends of my jacket and wrapped them around himself, gazing up at me curiously when I carried him down the streets.
“Alright,” I said gently, “hold onto me tightly now.”
He gripped my shirt when I started running down the sidewalk, and then I sprung off the ground, flying toward the sky before I landed on a roof and continued running, hopping from roof to roof.
I continued forward for what felt like hours, but when we met the houses, I just jumped off the top of a hospital and flew toward a house.
After landing on the peak of the house, I slid off the roofing tiles before falling gracefully.
And I landed gently on the front porch.
I gazed down at Luca to find him staring at my chest, shaking slightly due to the cold.
I pulled the jacket more over him before I knocked on the front door.
“Dante… what is this place…?” Luca whispered.
I just pressed my finger to my lips. “Shhh….”
He silenced then, looking down at my chest again.
The front door finally parted, and a girl stood there, looking relatively short for her age.
“Dante?” she said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
I just smiled slightly. “I brought someone I’d like you to meet.”
I just gently pulled back the little bit of my jacket to reveal Luca.
Her eyes immediately widened, and she gasped.
She immediately opened the door, and I caught it, knowing she was about to run off.
“I’ll go get Elias,” she said quickly, running off.
I just stepped inside and closed the door behind me, gently kicking off my shoes.
I then lightly set Luca down, helping him onto his feet as he held onto my arm.
Afterward, I lightly brushed down the giant T-shirt he wore and adjusted the bandages more over his eye.
“Dante, what are we doing here?” he demanded. “Who are these people?”
“You’ll see,” I said then, smirking.
The girl came running back seconds later, now looking a tad taller and fuller hair.
A man came out from the halls behind her, making my lips curl slightly when he gazed down at Luca. “Oh… my… is that…?”
Luca just stepped silently behind me, making me smirk.
“This is Luca,” I said then, glancing down at him as he hid behind me.
“Luca, this is Alice,” I gestured to the girl who’s eyes sparkled with amazement. “And behind her is Elias.”
Luca didn’t move from behind me.
I just turned and knelt down to his level, gently leaning forward to whisper in his ear, “Those are aliases. The woman is actually Lucifer Morningstar, and the man behind her is North Thorn. These are your real parents.”
He immediately froze as if I injected him with ice.
His face paled, and he stared at the two people for way too long.
I watched in amusement as he waddled forward like his legs were made of cement, and he bowed before them. “I am very sorry for my rude entrance.”
North just laughed, making Luca gaze up worriedly.
“He’s adorable,” North said then, smirking slightly as he tipped his head to the side. “How old are you now?”
Luca remained silent, face as white as a sheet.
“He’s thirty-two,” I told them.
Lucifer immediately dropped a glass she was holding, and North shot forward and caught it before it hit the floor.
She just ignored him when he gave her an annoyed look and she stepped over to Luca.
She dropped to her knees in front of her son, taking his face in her hands. “You’re so small… what did they do to you…?”
North just quietly set the cup on the table, gazing up with dark eyes.
“I’m… confused…” Luca said quietly, shaking slightly.
“Oh, honey… there’s no need to be afraid,” Lucifer said gently, brushing his hair away from his eyes.
North just gazed up at me, eyes glowing a slight red.
What happened to him? his voice echoed through my thoughts.
I just looked down at Luca who was as still as a statue.
But despite his clear confusion, I decided to explain to them what I knew. “His adoptive father died when Luca was in his early teens. His mother was an alcoholic. Luca had to raise himself and his adoptive sister together after their father died.” My lashes lowered. “At age nineteen, the angels figured out he was a mixed breed. And they cursed him because of it… he will look like this forever.”
“You’re so short…” Lucifer said, “at nineteen…?”
Luca seemed embarrassed now, rubbing his arm uncomfortably.
“Malnutrition will do that,” I said gently. “He and his sister had to fend for themselves… I am stilled peeved that I didn’t find him sooner.”
Luca remained silent, shaking more.
“He… he doesn’t remember us…” Lucifer said quietly, examining her son.
“I don’t know why…” I said quietly, “he has fake memories.”
She blinked and gazed up, brows drawing together. “What?”
I decided to say the rest to her thoughts:
He knows he’s adopted. He knows his race because of the angel’s curse, but his memories are fake. He thinks I was a childhood friend of his. He doesn’t remember his adoption even when it happened when he was thirteen. His mind seems to think he was adopted right after he was born. He doesn’t remember hell, angels, demon and his friends. He remembers elementary school … even when he didn’t go to it. All his memories… are human.
She gazed back down at her son then, and her eyes darkened. “What have they done to you…?”
He was shaking more now, and I could hear all the thoughts of confusion running rampant in his head.
North just stepped forward and set his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Alice… let’s get him to lay down.”
I heard his silent words:
And do the spell.
She nodded, standing up straighter before gazing down at her son.
She held out her hand, smiling gently. “Come now, Luca. Let’s go to the living room, okay?”
He glanced at me nervously.
I just smiled and nodded.
He then looked back to his mother and took her hand, and she helped him to the couch.
North just stepped over to me, voice low as he glared. “It was dangerous, bringing him here. Aren’t you vowed to protect him?”
I just gazed up, eyes dark. “He was already in danger before. There have been angels trying to kill him. I honestly think bringing his memories back will be better than hiding from them forever. At least he will know what he’s up against.”
North’s face paled slightly, but his lips thinned. “Who’s trying to kill him?”
I gazed up. “I don’t know. But I don’t intend to find out until he’s lucid.” I looked over as Lucifer helped him lay onto the couch. “He’s been living a lie. Everything he knows… it’s fake. Do you have any idea how horrific that is? Especially when he was sold to that drug trade…” I paused when North’s eyes grew in anger. “And let alone… if he remembers, he will know what we’re up against. He will be able to protect himself, too.”
North just settled back into himself then, gazing up at me. “You’re so good to him, Dante. I hope you understand that.”
I just smiled, lashes lowering. “He is my master. It is my duty to be good to him.”
North’s eyes darkened immediately.
“Dante,” Lucifer said, glancing back at me. “Please.”
I heard her silent command and stepped in the living room, where Luca lied on the couch.
“Only you can do it,” she whispered as Luca gazed up worriedly.
I just nodded and knelt down, smiling at him. “Don’t look so pale. You know I won’t let you get hurt.” I just gently brushed his hair away from his forehead, pressing my hand to it seconds later. “There’s no need to be afraid, okay?”
His skin glowed a bright white then, and his eye widened before his lashes lowered.
And he fell asleep, breaths softening immediately.
“Is he always so shy?” North said then, picking a book out from the bookshelf as Lucifer stood.
“Nope,” I stated, “he’s usually a pain in my ass.”
Lucifer giggled then, and North handed her the book.
She just took it. “Like father like son.”
“Oh, shush,” North said then, smirking over at her.
She just opened the book to the needed page, and I stood when I glanced back at her.
“I assessed him while I was helping him lay down,” she told me, voice dark. “It seems when the angel’s cursed him, they also put a memory block on him. I’m sure they were hoping to get back at me. They didn’t know you’d find him first.”
I watched as she sighed and put the book down.
“They cursed him with aeternum immortalitatis—ageless immortality,” she explained quietly, “which... which is irriversible. He will look like this forever, I’m afraid.”
“What about his memories?” I urged.
“I can reverse the block,” she explained to me, gazing up with a small smile. “I just cannot reverse immortality.”
“Since he was a half-breed,” North explained, voice gruff. “He’s basically human. He’s half-daem, so his body cannot handle runes, but he’s also half-angel... so since he has both in his blood, the magic of each cancel each other out. I’m afraid the immortality is the only magic he has now.”
“But he still gets hurt,” I told them desperately.
“It’s agelessness immortality,” Lucifer explained, setting the book down. “It means he will not die from age or natrual causes. But he can die if someone tries to hurt him against nature’s command.”
My lips thinned.
Lucifer just stepped over to her son and exhaled a soft breath, lashes lowering over dark eyes when she spoke the encantation:
“Angelum reduc ad pacem. Nam is diu antea defunctus vixit.”
North and I stepped back when a sudden wind burst through the room, swarling around Luca like he was the eye of a hurricane.
“Eum amamus, meminisse debet,” Lucifer said, breathing softly as she closed her eyes. “Servus, mater, pater, et opifex. Reduc memoriam semel amissam....”
The air around Luca swirled faster, and my lashes lowered when his form started glowing like a full moon.
“Et redde illi,” Lucifer said finally, lashes fluttering open as her eyes glowed a bright red, “meum tantum roga.”
Luca’s eyes suddenly shot open, and he sucked in a large and agonizing breath, eyes rolling to the top of his head.
My lashes just lowered.
“Remember....”
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