The scarlet heir

After the cousins gave me their presents, they rapidly got out of the room; the only one who stayed inside was Uncle Kiriam.

He was standing proudly with his arms crossed in front of the entrance, staring at my mother with his usual soul-piercing glare. Then he turned to me, changing expression entirely, mellowing down from his tense expression.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened to you, Lucy. I feel mortified for not being there when you needed us the most. At the same time, I hope you can take this event as a lesson and be a little less rash!" He said as he slowly approached me. Keeping his hands in his pockets.

With each step he made, I could hear the sound of metal clanging from beneath his large furry coat he wore over his elegant suit. I don't know what it was; it could've been just a couple of coins hidden in one pocket, maybe just a chainmail hidden beneath his clothes, or some hidden weapons.

Either way, the metallic sound made his presence all the more grand; he looked more imposing, at least to me, and that in return made him look all the more cool in my eyes.

The suit already gave him an elegant but deadly vibe, but that metallic sound simply made the image I had of him complete.

I know, I know. So what are you going to say now, that I shouldn't have skipped your family trip to the museum?

"Maybe don't skip on a family outing next time," he predictably added, and then the whole room shook.

Huh? What just happened? Did someone try to attack us?

No, my mother had slammed her feet on the ground; no cracks were made, but it had shaken the entire building.

Seriously? Isn't that a bit excessive? Uncle is not going to be scared by just that, so what was the point? You almost gave me a heart attack!

My uncle then took out a golden coin from his left pocket.

"You should visit us more often, especially now that we live so close to one another; you could learn a thing or two. Moreover, if you put in some good effort, one day you could even inherit a cushy position in our family business." He proposed while bouncing the golden coin in front of my face and catching it again.

He was toying with the golden coin, passing it through his fingers. Teleporting it from one hand to the other.

"What do you think?" He then asked me while extending his right hand towards me, offering me the golden coin.

Oh, really? Sure, I can—

"You've talked enough nonsense for a day; how about doing us a favor and getting out on your feet while I'm still feeling generous!" My mother's venomous words responded before I could; I saw her square up against him, using her power to extend the length of her nails.

Her eyes were burning with rage and contempt. My father was also quick to react, pulling her aside to calm her down. Gently pushing her away from the uncle.

"You're free to come anytime you want. You're always welcome." My uncle repeated to me as he tossed the golden coin my way. His voice was completely unbothered by my mother's blind rage.

He was the exact kind of person I aspired to be: fearless, loving, and fierce.

My mother caught the coin before it could make its way into my hands. She clenched her fist in frustration, crushing the coin; her imposing presence didn't feel as scary anymore. Perhaps it was because I had seen this scenario replaying countless times throughout my childhood; it had now become a common routine in my brain.

Hey, that was for me. Why did you—

She hurled the coin out of the window without thinking twice about it; my father, as usual, stood by her, worried sick, trying to calm down those two.

Strangely enough, the coin passed through the window without leaving a trace on it, as if the glass barrier wasn't even there to begin with, leaving water ripples on the surface of the glass window.

As if mom is never going to hurt the uncle, not in front of me; you're just wasting your breath, Dad.

I wonder what kind of people I will find in the upper cities. Now that we're going to live there, my mom won't have any excuse to keep me locked in Uncle's house keeping company with his kids.

I thought as I looked out of the windows, I couldn't see much of the outside; everything was covered by a thick layer of clouds underneath the window.

"If he ever gifts you anything, make sure to bring it to me to check it, Lucy. Who knows what that deranged man could give you?" My mom was still agitated from the encounter.

Here we go again…

"You should not trust him! That man is a—"

"Honey…" Dad was massaging her shoulders to calm her down; he even dared to interrupt her while she was speaking, but it was useless; her mood had soured the moment the uncle barged in the room.

"Don't!" She hissed at him with a cold voice that froze the air. "We just got him back; the last thing I want is for him to turn into a degenerate like him!" She said with pure rage in her eyes, probably because of a feud they had in the past they never divulged to me.

He, on the other hand, could not do anything else but let out a very nervous, forced, and awkward laugh, nodding along to all the curses thrown at his brother.

But Uncle is the coolest of them all; the way he dresses, walks, and speaks, it's just so cool, and I bet he also fights like a beast. I can already imagine him leaning forward, red eyes and whatnot.

In truth, I had never seen him fight.

He was also considerably richer than us. I bet the family business would be even more successful if my mother weren't so against him.

It took a while for her to calm down, and after yet another wave of hugs and kisses, she left my room.

"You should rest for now; we'll bring a doctor in a couple of hours, so don't wander around the house; you could get lost." She shouted from outside the room as she headed away.

After she was out, the cousins were once again allowed inside in order to monitor me and keep me company.

Leo ran back to me, picked up one of the present boxes, the smallest of the bunch, and put it in my hands, looking ecstatic and full of energy; his brothers weren't as energetic; some were clearly sleepy.

Eager to play with them, I got out of the bed and immediately regretted it as my feet almost froze on the extremely cold wooden floor.

"Luca! Is it really true that you're finally moving out to the upper cities? This is not a lie like the last time, right?" He asked me, his eyes brimming with excitement, to the point it reminded me of a small puppy I once saw at the neighbor's house.

His brothers moved the other presents out of the bed and lay on it; Elvis and Michael went to sleep while Ilay took out a book out of nowhere along with a pair of glasses and began quietly reading while sitting on Elvis's back.

"Ignore us; we're only here to keep you company." Ilay spoke up. His deep voice resembled that of his father; he was the most collected out of the four brothers, but he too was a bit weird; his hair was unlike anything I had ever seen, with all of his braids; every time I saw him, he was rocking a different style.

Where did you even take those glasses from? Your pants have no pockets; don't tell me… Is it some sort of power that lets you have an imaginary inventory? Or maybe it's a subspace? Did you materialize them using weird, super-futuristic tech?

He was dressed in a formal suit, just like his brothers; Leo was the only exception, as he had been dressed like a small prince.

"Why the suit?" I asked Ilay.

"Ah, this? Ignore it; we just visited Dad's storage, so we had to dress for the occasion. We can't let our employees see us with regular clothes now, can we?" Ilay responded as he leaned his back against the wall.

"Can you not move around? you're heavy!" Elvis complained. rolling around the bed in hope of getting his older brother off his back.

"Deal with it! Next time think carefully before opening that mouth of yours; you ridiculed us earlier." Ilay responded by lightly punching his back while glaring at him. Elvis then successfully got him off his back, and the two began wrestling on the bed.

So the reaction from my uncle to my kidnapping was to arm his sons. I wish I could get a better weapon, but I doubt Mother will let me; she'll probably decide that it's better for me to not leave the upper cities for the rest of my life.

I was curious to see what kind of artifact he gave them; it was probably something beyond my wildest imaginations.

Then, Leo picked the smallest gift box present and opened it for me. Inside the cardboard box, I found a couple of figurines and a collection of art books depicting a bunch of well-known demons as well as a detailed description of their abilities.

Shouldn't I open my own presents? Leo?

The figurines were also of other well-known demons, one of them being the eight-winged six-eyed sealing dragon. A powerful demon who once terrified the people of the Fracture.

The second figurine wasn't packaged like the previous one but was instead put in a glass box. It was a demon I had never seen or heard of before. 

It was a large two-headed black bird with red eyes; one head had only one eye in the middle of its head, the other had seven. The belly of the demon was open, revealing a glowing red orb lying inside; the feathers on its wings resembled a bunch of swords.

He proudly showed them to me, giving me a small summary of the identities of those demons.

"Our father made this with his own hands! It's the first demon your dad subjugated and absorbed; it was graded blue back then. Isn't it fascinating?" Leo quickly explained to me while taking the figurine out of the box to show me all the details carved in that colored statue made out of plastic.

Blue? Isn't that the weakest rank? Wait, is blue the coldest color? Is it really something to be proud of if it was the weakest grade of demons? At the same time, it doesn't look all that weak… I guess first impressions aren't as useful when dealing with demons.

I wasn't quite fond of demons; I didn't hate them, nor did I like them. Leo was the only one in the family with a fascination for those beings and loved collecting all things demon-related.

"Thanks a lot, Leo, you're the best!" I said to him as I gave a superficial scroll to the many pages of the books he also presented me. I wasn't interested in it, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings either.

Then I opened the other presents. Elvis had given some snacks. Michael, on the other hand, gifted me a bunch of expensive-looking watches.

Typical. Elvis probably bought the first thing he came across, while Michael is still obsessed with expensive stuff… I wish instead of useless jewelry he could simply buy me a new console, maybe a Dreaming Capsule; that too would be nice. That way you wouldn't be wasting your money on stuff I'm not going to wear.

Ilay, on the other hand, had given me just a bunch of keys; the largest box was filled to the brim with keys.

"What are these?" I asked him. Their wrestling match was over; Ilay had won and was once again sitting on his younger brother's back.

"I hid a bunch of treasure chests in the house; one of them contains the key of a car I bought for you. Good luck finding them all." Ilay responded with a proud look in his eyes; he seemed confident that his present was the best.

Just how much time do you have on your hands? Couldn't you just give whatever you wanted to give me without this annoying process? How am I supposed to… Goddammit.

"So? Who gave you the best present?" Leo asked me.

Ilay put his book aside and kept staring at me. I'm sure the twins were also paying close attention to what I was about to say.

Eh? Really? I don't know, I don't know, the food is fine and all, but I can't taste anything other than chocolate. I have drawers full of the jewelry gifted to me by Michael that I never wore; this will probably join the group, and I don't even know if I'll be able to find the car keys Ilay hid. 

"I guess Leo." I responded.

Ilay sighed and then resumed reading his book; he didn't look all too happy. The twins used the comforter to cover their entire bodies, and Leonhart was jumping out of joy. The room was full of chaos.

Why did you even hold out some hope, Elvis? Yours was the worst gift.

After putting the various gifts aside, we spent the rest of the day playing video games, eating to our hearts content. I had my chocolate snacks and some flavorless soda while everyone else enjoyed popcorn and fries.