Cleaning out the house

Early in the day, Luna was nervous about what she was doing, but she couldn't stay away. She had to come back, she couldn't run forever. She had lost her safety net during the fall of Crystal Swan, and as such was forced out of options. Joining another guild right away would've been a foolish mistake given she knows little about why her guild disbanded, and constantly working and living off the land was not a viable way to live either. Even taking on a few jobs with no stable residence is nonsense as there would be no one to know she was missing if things went wrong. Which is why she returned to River Village, her hometown. She left River village because she couldn't take any more abuse from Hakar, what he paid a wizard to do to her was the final straw. She didn't want to hurt her own family, despite everything, he was still her brother.

Walking through her old neighborhood, she soon found herself at the old house she lived in. It was a single floor three bedroom house, Luna remembered it fondly. She worked every day to prevent the place from being a wreck,  living with men wasn't easy, especially when two of them always smelled like they live in the wild. Walking in, Luna could instantly smell the rubbish lying about as the place seemed to be in poor condition. Stains and trash littered about in the entrance way, Luna left her bag by the living room couch as she noted the cans and bags littered about. However she heard the sound of someone panting and something scraping, she walked into the kitchen to see a foot shorter blonde teenage girl trying to clean a pot. She was wearing a sleeveless white top that was soaked near the bottom, and a red knee length skirt with brown leather shoes.  She looked up to see Luna, tears of joy coming out of her eyes as she ran to hug the girl, however Luna was confused as to her identity. "Big Sis! You're back!"

She didn't want to be rude, she reciprocated the hug, however she felt like she knew the girl. "I am... It's been far too long, clearly, umm?" Luna was searching through her memory but she then got a look into the girl's emerald eye, specifically the iris until she found a familiar set of markers. She was in disbelief for a moment "Zimar?Wow, you look, different." The young girl let go of Luna and stepped back, remembering that to Luna she looked a bit different. "Oh, right, a lot has changed while you were gone. Long story short, I came out of the closet when a potion vendor came to town. Also my name is't Zimar these days, I go by Zina."

If not for the fact that she had slain nightmare inspiring creatures and learned she herself isn't human, Luna would be in utter shock. She also expected this at the back of her mind, when the siblings moved into this house, rooms were shared. Since Leon ran his own art business he had his own, the two elder brothers often brought home work tools so they shared a room, leaving Luna and Zimar, now Zina together. She could tell her young sister was hiding something all those years. Luna looked around to see the mess, and checked the time on her ilac, doing a brief calculation she had two and a half hours to fix this mess before her brothers would be home any minute. "Alright little sis, we only got two and a half hours to clean this mess."  Zina started to tear up when Luna addressed the problem, feeling overwhelmed by the world. "I, I am sorry... I'm no good, I'm not like you..." Luna however was one step ahead as she wiped away the girl's tears. "It's fine, I'm here, and plenty of time. I'll take on the kitchen, you start with the rubbish around the house, everything will be fine. Catch me up too." Zina nodded as Luna took the pot out of the sink, changing the water and started to power clean the kitchen.

"I came out of the closet, as you can see the potion worked." Luna nodded, checking out her new sister once more. She wondered what Hakar thought, but was glad Gordon was still here. Without Gordon, Hakar would be a monster. "I'll say, you gotta let me know if that guy can clear skin conditions. After a job or two, the bruising isn't a good selling point. "Leon was offered a job out in a foreign country to paint some paintings of monuments." Luna's interest was peaked as she was at the point of scrubbing the stains out of tables and counters of all the common areas in the house. She was glad that he was able to get out of working at the hardware store and able to work. "Dish, how'd he score that gig?" Zina was taking out all the garbage collected before she grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floors and carpet. "Oh, a foreign noble carriage broke down and the boss asked him to keep the heir company, then Leon drew a sketch that the noble's family liked and they were looking for someone to sketch some ancient stuff from their homeland. Gordon however, is doing amazing. Gonzo's business has pulled through and all of the guys that were at the start jumped ship, but Gordon stayed. Now he leads the harbor repair B team. It was a reward for sticking with Gonzo."

Luna nodded, she was glad to see that that the family was doing well. Zina noted that Luna didn't ask about Hakar, but she was grateful to have her big sister home. It was an hour later, but with Luna's help, Zina managed to get the house clean, and killed the booze scent. Luna threw her pack in her and Zina's room, her side seemingly untouched and well preserved. She expected Hakar to have trashed all her things. She returned to the kitchen to where she saw Zina sitting at the table, out of breath. Zina was only four years bellow Luna, however Luna always looked out for her, as a young boy, she was not treated well when Hakar heard of her desire to be a seamstress. She searched through the kitchen, she mostly found various meat and potatoes as well as beer, looking near the bottom of the fridge she found assorted vegetables, enough to serve one. Luna guessed how the men were eating, if she had known about how the conditions were around here she'd have come back sooner for Zina. Reaching under her Qipao, she tossed her wallet to her sister. "Go out and get something for dinner, also get yourself a few things. I noticed you're wearing my old clothes to save some jewels, but you should get some, fitting clothes. You got 90 minutes to be back young lady."

Zina looked at the wallet and couldn't believe her sister was carrying around such money. She hugged her sister tightly before grabbing her coat and running out the door "You're the best sister one can ask for.". Having the house to herself, Luna decided to take a brief nap on the couch, however half an hour later, she felt the back of a hand against her forehead, her eyes opened to see the tall man with dirty blond hair and amber eyes, he smelled like sweat and sea water, wearing steal toe boots, some form of dark green work pants, at-shirt a work belt loaded with tools. His face was rugged with stubble, his gentle smile greeted Luna. "Gordon? How long have you been home?" Gordon laughed, as the question seemed funny under the circumstances. "I could say the same, so your plan went wrong?" Luna looked shocked, she had said nothing to Gordon before she ran, yet he was speaking as if he knew what was going on the whole time. Not even able to look at him, she looked away as she spoke. "What plan?" Gordon sat down on the couch beside her as Luna stood up, he brushed her hair aside with his hand to get a look at the back of her neck, not pleased to see the scar in the same place. "I know you Luna, you had a plan, something along the lines of get out, and once you had a stable gig come back for Zina, get her out before Hakar has a chance to get to her like he did to you. I didn't do anything because I agreed with you, I didn't want to expose her to his abuse, nor do I want to abandon blood. So what went wrong? Also where's Zina?"

Luna leaned onto her brother, not even caring the fact that he was the furthest thing from clean, Gordon wrapped her arm around Luna, he could tell she needed support for a minute. "Wasn't my fault, before I had something ready, the guild fell apart. I didn't want to take on risks outside of a guild, ran out of places to go. I noticed Zina was wearing some of my old stuff, so I gave her some jewels and told her to pick up dinner on her way home."  Gordon sighed, he cared for his brother, but he can only protect him for so long, he is pushing the line for everyone. However he was glad that Zina would be able to get some clothing of her choice. Time had passed as Luna and her brother caught up with eachother, until Zina arrived home, her arms full of bags while holding several paper bags. Gordon and Luna got up to help the girl, Gordon took the bags of food while Luna helped her sister carry the bags of clothes to their bedroom.

As Luna helped put her stuff away, Zina suddenly hugged Luna from behind, Luna could hear the sobs as her sister made her feelings clear. "Big sis, are you leaving again? It has been too much to handle without you here, I, I don't want you to leave me behind!" Gently raising the younger girls hands, Luna turned around and lifted the girl to her eye level. "I would never leave you behind, well, I sorta did, but I was coming back regardless to get you. Just, that plan, failed. I'm a failure, I'm sorry... If I followed through on plans we'd be out of here. But I backed the wrong horse."

Luna put down the girl as she could tell both of them were feeling a majority of things they tried to neglect, however, Luna started to notice a scar underneath Zina's shoulder, grabbing her sister, she mad sure the scar was not identical to her own. Feeling a relieved that Hakar hasn't gone that far again, she still inquired. "What happened to you? That scar looks pretty serious, and seems like it happened after your transition." Zina looked away, not wanting to answer, which was essentially an answer for Luna, however she needed no proof. Leading Zina back out to the kitchen table, she heard the door open as her and Zina's heart started pounding as they both new who had entered. Instantly the smashing of a glass bottle shattering on the floor, he was home and drunk a bit. Luna whispered to Zina "What'd you get Hakar?" "Triple triple burrito, large. Extra lettuce. with red onions and salsa. Side of spicy onion rings." Luna pat the girl on the head, she was grateful that Zina was also a fast learner, and was able to get one of few meals able to keep their devil of a brother calm. "Good girl, he seems halfway trashed..." Zina started to shutter and Luna nearly followed suite, she realized what that meant. The beer in the fridge, was all there was. She was worried that he was not trashed enough or in a state where he wouldn't drink further. However she couldn't blame Zina, as she was too young to be buying alcohol. Meaning the only safeguards in the house were a burrito and the eldest brother.

The tall man was roughly four inches taller then Luna, short pink hair and cold amber eyes. He was heavily bruised and his clothes tattered and ripped, he walked to the kitchen, Luna and Zina didn't enter yet because neither wanted to rush into a bad scene. Gordon however was not pleased with the state his brother came home with, as it meant he was no doubt fired again. "Canned again? What happened now?" Hakar stumbled as he sat down, Gordon handing him his food. "Customer service issue." Gordon sighed, he was wondering how that was possible. He had pulled strings to get Hakar a job, with all his history he went through almost every possible one in town or references scared employers away from him. "You were a trash collector... Don't tell me you got into a fight with someone while collecting their trash..." Hakar shrugged it off, not caring what Gordon thought of the matter. "Actually it was a hobo, also, where'd we get the cash to afford this?"

Gordon eyed the hallway as he could see some pink hair, figuring that as long as Hakar was in his sight, the girls were safe. "Lulu is home, she wasn't happy with the pantry."  Gordon noted that the girls were testing the waters to see how Hakar was, however they couldn't avoid eachother for long. Especially when it was her mercy stopping him from kicking out Hakar. Luna didn't want to abandon family as if there was anything that was admirable, it was her heart that could forgive, however it was clear Luna stopped forgiving him after the last sin. "Girls! Get out here while the food is still hot." Luna and Zina slowly entered, and sat at opposite sides of the table. Luna's fear was starting to resurface, as she wondered if her brother had the devilish remote. She grabbed her Chicken Salad and handed Zina her steamed Vegetables served over rice. "Hello Hakar."  Hakar barely even looked at Luna, however he was not hestitant with his anger. "Well, looks like lil' miss perfect fell flat on her flat ass." Luna dropped her fork as she was grievously upset the first time in months she and Hakar spoke he was still acting like a jerk. "It's been five years since we've been able to eat at this table without insults being thrown?" Hakar, in response splashed his beer onto Luna before he got up to grab another, not liking Luna sounding like she has any say over him.  

"She didn't ask for anything unreasonable Hakar. You are rude, arrogant, unable to keep a job to a point where you were fired from every low class job in town, and earned the title of a official town drunk." Hakar grabbed a beer from the fridge and toasted to what his brother stated, "Thanks for ending on a high note bro!" Zina, started to cower as Luna could tell she was itching to get out the door. A freudian slip she whimpered however would ruin her chances. "We're ashamed of that though..." Hakar threw his beer bottle he just pulled out towards Zina. "Shut up you bitch!" Zina tried to block her face, however Luna had her back as she grabbed the rod strapped to her side and pressed the red Lacrima, extending the fire whip as the tip turned into a claw, grabbing the beer bottle and Luna whipped it out the window, before deactivating her weapon. She stood up and turned to Hakar, pissed. "How dare you!" Hakar was astounded by what his sister had accomplished but he was pissed off that he was still just a man while she had all the opportunities in the world in his eyes. "How dare I! How dare you just run out on us when things don't go your way!" Gordon stood up, pissed off with the grievous lie he said.  "She ran away because 'her way' was actually her trying to keep our family in order, in fact you were the one who was the one not following every one else's way."

Angry at feeling cornered, he displaced that fury towards Luna as he pulled out a lacrima from his pocket. It lit up as he clenched it, Sparks started to fly from the back of Luna's neck as she fell to the floor, breathing intensely as the scar on the back of her neck started to cut itself open from the sparks, blood trickling down her neck. Zina wanted to get between the two but Gordon stopped her, knowing well this day was bound to happen. "Zin, this is her fight. This time, she can handle it." Hakar kicked Luna down as she struggled to get back up when she tried to leave. She could feel the intense pain and constant flashbacks, she remembered herself and Zimar (now Zina) locked away in the closet the one night when she was twelve and Gordon was called out to see for a midsea repair, the time where constantly keeping him drunk ruined his date and he took it out on her, or the time she confessed to the family about Integration magic. She remembered how helpless she felt, the anxiety was overwhelming. However, face to face with him again, this time she felt it was different, she wasn't afraid of him, she was afraid of hurting everyone.

Luna caught Hakar's last kick before she jumped up and pulled his leg back, causing him to fall flat on his back, the shock caused him to let go of the purple Lacrima in his hand, it rolled just out of his hands reach, he tried to reach for it but Luna aimed her right index and middle fingers towards it, charging up a dart before spreading her fingers, shooting a dart of white energy at the Lacrima, shattering it into pieces which disappeared into dust. "I was afraid, but too afraid to know what I was afraid of. The memories of what you've done to me clouded me from seeing the truth, I am not afraid of you, but what I would do to you. I don't want to hate you, but you're still my brother. Which doesn't make this any easier..." Luna charged a ball of white energy into her palm as she aimed it towards her brother. Who was starting to back away, pissed. "This is what you wanted to do to me for so long, blast my head off. Maybe I'd get some satisfaction out of knowing you definitely wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again. Maybe I should go through with this. I gave up a lot for the family, you included. I gave up my share of Dad's inheritance that he wanted me to go to school with just so Gordon could help boost the business during the competition phase and provide more for us. I cleaned every day and made sure all of you were well fed, I taught you how to read and write for Shirain's sake."

Zina turned to Gordon, looking for a fact check, Gordon simply nodded. "Her list of sacrifices is long." However Luna started to overcharge the spell as her gaze was intensely focused on Hakar, as she wanted answers. "Before I do anything, you will tell me what you've been doing to Zina." Hakar choked, he knew Luna more then anything only gets aggressive when she's not the one getting hurt, all of a sudden, the white ball turned into a great source of fear. His fingers crossed as he spoke, his tell when he lied."No- nothing!" Luna could easily deduce the obvious lie. "Say hello to dad for me, no, you wouldn't belong in the same place. Is what I would say if you were dying!" Luna crushed the ball of energy in her hand, dispersing it into specs as the flew through the air. "You got twenty minutes to pack up your crap and get out of this house, for good. As the Matriarch of this family, you are hearby excommunicated."

Hakar, turned to Gordon, pissed off and hoping for support, however Gordon shook his head. "Don't look at me pal, and as the guy who provided everything you own, letting you have 20 minutes to gather your things is a mercy I wouldn't have shown. Considering Luna ran away with barely a purse load, she's showing you a load of kindness you don't deserve."  Hakar tried to get up and punch Luna, however she dodged out of the way and punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. His temper skyrocketed as he stumbled towards the door. "I don't need any of your support! I don't need a prune, a bitch, and a freak!" He walked out the door, and slammed it shut. Zina ran to hug Luna, grateful that this time she was the one that stayed.

Luna stroked the girl's hair, finally feeling that she came home after all this time. "Big sis, that was awesome. You're amazing! Are you here to stay now?" Luna didn't know what she would do now, with everything the way it is, she had a duty to make sure Zina would be alright. "If you think for a minute I'm going anywhere soon, that's crazy. I got responsibilities here. Gotta make sure you can take care of this place, and  you, Gordon..." Luna shot Gordon a look that he recognized as someone screwed up royally, he gulped as he wondered what she was going to say. "We've had plenty of little chats on this, you can't survive on meat and potatoes alone. Say goodbye to those days, I'm home and you're gonna be eating right. "

Garold nodded, before laughing a bit, while it was under dark circumstances, he did enjoy some aspects of not having a woman around that would prevent every single joy. However trading those pleasures to have his sister back was a cost well worth it. The trio sat back down as they started to eat, Luna felt like a weight was finally lifted off of her shoulders and heart, and that she was finally home.