[56.2] Attached at the Hip

The boy, who was a few years younger than the owl, recognized that he would die if he stayed on this road. He would either die by the merciless men, or if he was lucky, he would die of starvation.

The boy nodded meekly and was picked up by the owl who flew him back to the barrier. At the entrance, the owl paused to look back at the boy.

"I invite you in… But only if you don't cause harm."

The boy shook his head, "My family says to avoid violence at all costs."

Satisfied with this answer, the owl brought him inside. They walked through the forest and into the town where he was met immediately by his parents. His mother and father clung to him, crying loudly, "Just where did you go?! We thought you were taken and killed."

The snowy owl let them cling and rubbed their backs, "Mama, Papa… I'm sorry. I just wanted to fly outside."

His parents wiped their tears and checked over his body. Once they were assured he wasn't hurt, they finally turned their attention to the small boy in a brown tunic covered in blood and dirt. He averted his eyes, pulling on his clothes.

His father spoke, "Who is this?"

The snowy owl grabbed the boy's hand and pulled it to him, "He's the boy I saved. His family is gone now… Can we adopt him?"

All of the villagers and the boy looked at him in surprise.

His mother tried to speak delicately, "This… This is a serious matter, child. We are demons and he is-" She glanced at him and whispered, "A human."

"So? He doesn't have a family anymore and he needs one. Didn't the Elders say the Great Fairy sent us refugees? Why can't we accept any now?"

The mother looked at the father helplessly. The father turned to the small boy, "What is your opinion on demons?"

The boy was startled to be addressed and looked over at their expectant faces. Some had normal skin tones, others pale, abnormally colored eyes, and they all had horns on their foreheads with different shapes and locations. The boy stammered, "I-I don't know. I've n-never met any."

The mother and father exchanged a look.

The small owl took his hand and squeezed it, "We are demons."

"O-Oh."

The small owl continued, "What do you think of us? Do you like us?"

The boy squeezed his hand back and whispered, "I do."

"Great!" He beamed with joy, "Do you want to be my brother?!"

The boy slowly raised his eyes and gave a slight nod.

The small owl turned to his parents, "Well?"

They both let out a sigh and nodded in unison. His mother smiled, "What should we call you, boy?"

He shook his head, "We don't receive names."

"Then… How about I name you according to demon culture?" The owl's mother smiled as she bent down to him, "Your given name will be Sy. Your birth name will be Syrus… Do you like it?"

He nodded obediently.

The small owl spoke quickly, "A birth name is only for your parents and your soulmate. It's very important to only give others your given name."

His cheeks turned red, "T-Then I won't repeat it."

"With this you are our family." His yellow eyes reflected the timid boy in front of him, "My name is Caldwell and I will be the best older brother you'll ever have."

On that day, Syrus was welcomed into the snowy owl family. They had to install a ladder for him to climb into a birdhouse, a bunk bed to sleep on, and change their sleep schedules to better suit a human.

Everyone worked hard to ensure the boy would feel at home.

However, none worked as hard as Caldwell did.

After bringing him back, the weight of guilt Caldwell placed upon himself grew with each day. Whenever he saw Syrus staring out of the window, letting out sighs, his chest grew heavier. He anxiously came up with a way to make up for his shortcomings. He started tidying himself up, waking his brother up and getting him ready, serving him food and tea, and even holding an umbrella for him when the sun was too bright.

Soon, a brother turned into a butler.

That day he brought Syrus back, Caldwell stopped living for himself. His parents figured it was his way of coping with seeing death, so they merely turned a blind eye.

Syrus was timid, terrified to look in the eyes of others, so he submissively allowed Caldwell to take care of him like a mother hen.

They didn't realize just how serious their codependence had become until the day Caldwell came down with a sickness. All his energy had been dedicated to Syrus that he stopped taking care of himself.

Demons were incapable of coming down with illness unless it resulted from the mind…

Syrus fiddled with his clothes nervously, "I-I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

Caldwell's father was beside his son, putting a bag of ice on the boy's forehead. He shook his head, "You don't need to apologize, son."

Caldwell's mother nodded reassuringly, "We don't blame you at all."

Not believing these words, tears formed and collected in the corner of his eyes, "It's all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Their mother sighed, "Syrus. Caldwell will be fine. He's a demon. He just stressed himself out too much, but he won't die or anything."

Caldwell's father smiled at him, "Just go to class for now."

Syrus hesitated, "C-Can I just stay home?"

His mother pursed her lips, "You two are way too dependent on each other and we've let this happen for far too long. You need to learn how to be by yourself. Your brother won't always be there at your side."

Syrus looked like the world had crashed down on him, "H-He won't!? So he IS going to die!?"

She panicked and quickly spoke, "No no no! I just meant, what if you or he find a partner? You'll be in their lives more than your brother's."

Syrus blinked slowly, still not catching on.

She sighed as she relented, "Nevermind. Just go to class."

After successfully shooing him out, he slowly climbed down the ladder, his expression clearly showing just how pitiful he was. A few hours later, Caldwell woke up with a start.

"SY!"

His father was there to calm him down, "Relax, son. It's okay."

Caldwell looked around in a daze, but his panic was still present, "W-Where is Sy?"

"We sent him off to class."

"Oh… Oh!" Caldwell quickly pulled off his covers, "I-I have to help him great ready! I have to-"

"-Caldwell. Breathe." His father quickly tried to calm him down, "He's already gone. It's okay."

His breathing picked up more noticeably, "N-No! I have to be with him! He's going to get hurt!"

His mother rushed in with a cup of tea, "Caldwell. Drink this."

After much persuading, he finally took the cup and sipped it slowly under the eyes of his watchful parents. Both of them exchanged a look of worry.

This level of dependence was not good for either of them…

But just how could they solve it?

It had festered for far too many years.

They had tried everything they could think of, but none of it worked.

Caldwell's head drooped in exhaustion. Seeing that the tea had taken effect, they put him to sleep. He slept well into the afternoon, only waking when he heard the slow patter of a person climbing up the ladder. Caldwell jumped out of bed, alerting his parents, and ran to the main area where the open door was.

His breath caught in his throat.

Sy stood in the doorway, dripping with blood and wearing many bruises. His clothes were torn and his bag was dripping wet with water.

The sound of something shattered as his mother cried out, "SY!? What happened!?"

She pulled him over, patting him with a towel as she anxiously hooted. He explained, "Oh… Some of the kids saw I wasn't with Caldwell and decided to play around with me. They threw my stuff in the water. They said mean things to get me mad… Then they decided to beat me until I got mad at them."

A proud smile crossed his face, revealing the teeth he lost, "But I didn't get mad and I didn't fight back."

Caldwell's father shouted in surprise, "Why are you proud of that!? If anyone bullies you, you have to fight back!!"

Sy looked surprised by this, "No, no. Violence is never the answer. My people always said: if someone hits your cheek, turn the other one so that it might also be slapped. If someone drives a knife into your chest, pat the hand that drives it."

Caldwell was shocked, "W-What does that mean?!"

Sy blinked slowly, "Even if someone is hurting you, you must not respond in violence. It's better to be hurt than to hurt others."

It was at that moment that they all understood the severity of the problem.

Syrus was a complete pacifist.

Demons were mischievous creatures, bullying others wasn't out of the ordinary. However, every demon and human in the village would retaliate when getting bullied. Thus, they lived in harmony. To not fight back was considered extremely abnormal.

Up until this point, Caldwell was always there to beat the other kids into submission. However, Syrus himself had never raised a hand. He never even raised his voice in defiance.

The bullying itself was never malicious and was more of a way to create a bond. When the other children bullied Syrus and found he did not fight back, they were so confused by this that they didn't stop until they realized he wasn't ever going to retaliate. They ran off promptly, and Syrus dusted himself off and headed home.

Caldwell let out a cry and lept out to hug his little brother close, "I'm never going to leave you EVER again! Never EVER!"

Syrus allowed his brother to crush him in his arms, not once crying out in pain.

Both parents exchanged a look, "...It's going to be even worse now."

From that day forward, the two were so inseparable, they were considered one person. Forget about attending class together, now they even went to the bathroom together.

At a loss, their parents could only hope it would get better over time.