Lux (unfinished)

Lux was born during the war. His father was in the military on Xartrys. His family lived in a small farming village about an hour’s drive from the main city. Everyone knew each other in that village. Lux didn’t have a lot of friends. One, he didn’t like talking to people and two, there weren’t very many kids his age in the village. The other kids were just too hyper for him. So, Lux spent most of his time at home with his mother. He would help with chores, make dinner and when he had free time, he liked to draw pictures or read all the adventure books in the house. Lux’s favorite part of the day was when his father came home after work. Though his father worked in the main city, he made an effort to commute to work each day from this little village. When his family was together, he felt happy. Everyone felt happy. They would spend the evening playing a few games with Lux or reading to him. And before bed they would sit at the table and drink dormiens herba (which tasted and worked like chamomile tea) tea. He would go to bed feeling satisfied and happy every night. And excited about what he and his parents would do the next morning. They day it happened was a perfect day. It was sunny and warm, and the air smelled of flavums. (Flavums are very sweet-smelling flowers). His father took some of his office work home that week. So, they spent their days inside the house with their windows open, drinking iced tea. Lux’s father did his work, his mother was cross stitching and Lux was drawing his family on this pleasant day. Everything was perfect until the screaming started. Lux’s father ran outside. Lux and his mother followed. And this is what they saw. They saw fires and explosions, people screaming and running. And Nova soldiers. “HIDE LUX!” his father had shouted. His parents rushed him inside and hid him in the basement. But they didn’t hide in the basement with him. “Why aren’t you hiding too?” Lux had said. His parents responded saying “There are people who need help. Always protect those who can’t protect themselves. It would be like killing them if we did nothing. Lux, never wait and do nothing when people need your help. And remember that we’ll always love you.” And with that, they shut the doors. The basement was mostly filled with storage. Lux opened a box close to him and found a toy nebula rabbit his mother had made for him when he was a baby. As a shirt, his mother had stitched together his father’s old shirt. Lux picked it up and held it close as explosions and gun shots and screaming happened right above his head. At one point the ceiling of the basement collapsed after a strong blast. Lux was able to squeeze into a small space where the ceiling was still in place. When it fell, he had been cut badly on his arms and sprang his ankle. All he could do was wait until he was rescued, in the dark, holding his plushie while his arms screamed in agony. At least he had managed to pick out all the splinters he could with his fingers. Lux felt like he had been stuck for hours. And he was. He was trapped for 8 hours before Nebula soldiers digged him out. When Lux had been pulled out, he stood in the wreckage of his home. He picked up his favorite drawing which wasn’t burned badly and hugged it before folding it into his pocket. The soldiers treated his wounds and asked him about his parents. He had told them that his parents shut him in the basement then they ran out to help the villagers. Then Lux noticed that there were other soldiers holding bodies. Dead bodies. Lacus, the kid that lived next door, Mr. Cinereus, an old man who liked kids to give some fresh vegetables from his garden and many others. And like the world slowed down he saw some soldiers carrying two bodies on a stretcher. Placed on the ground. They were his parents. Lux ran to the stretchers. His parents were covered in dirt and soot stains with spots of dry blood. Their torsos were covered in gunshot wounds. Dry blood spilled all over their clothes. They had other wounds like scratches all over their bodies. His mother looked like she had a broken arm. Their eyes weren’t closed yet. Which made this image more disturbing. Lux couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He crumpled to the ground in front of the stretcher. His parents were gone. The only people who understood him, gone. His village, gone. Everything was gone. It was an insult that the sun was setting beautifully. Shining brightly and happily. Lux had been escorted to a hospital in the main city where they treated his wounds and cleaned him. Then according to his parents’ will, he was to be sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the main city. The only things left he had of his parents were the nebula rabbit plushie and the drawing folded in his pocket in his new and fresh clothes. Soldiers took him to his uncle’s house. Lux had never met his uncle and was nervous. His uncle lived in a big fancy house which even had a butler. When Lux had showed up to the house, they greeted him, and the butler led him to his room. The next day on the news Lux found that he was the only survivor. His parents were recognized as heroes. The funeral was probably the hardest day of his life. From that day forward at his uncle’s house he had been treated like an outsider. Lux grew up, isolating himself for a while. He only knew where his bedroom, one of the bathrooms, kitchen and dining room were in that entire house. A few years later Lux had found an observatory that he liked to relax in. Also, during those past few years, Lux had become cold and a bit bitter. Angrier than he used to be. He wasn’t as shy anymore. His uncle was hard on him which was probably one of the reasons. Then we Lux and his two cousins Twyla and Sagira came of age, they joined the Nebula military. Lux had worked hard and ascended the ranks quickly. By 15, he was the youngest commander in Nebula history. His cousins had also worked very hard too. Before long they had been assigned a team. His uncle had created the team and was the admiral of the team. Which meant he was basically their head supervisor. The team was called The Helix team. Their job was to look for Ula on far planets at the edges of the universe. They searched a few planets before reaching Terra-Lost. Then Lux found Suki. He only thought of her as Ula at first but then when he got to know her, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. All these years of hiding his true self and proving to his uncle he was strong enough, he had relaxed, for real, without a depressing or worrying or angry thought. He was happy being with Suki. And even though he was a Xartarian, he felt like he could be himself around Suki. But he needed to follow his orders. His parents' funeral was the hardest day of his life. But after Suki discovered his angrier side of him (and that he wasn’t human) was bumped up to being the hardest day of his life.