[69.4] The Child of Misery - Lovi

Once we arrived at the mountain, I realized the sun had already set and was replaced by the moon.

That's not good…

I hope Asmonious isn't panicking.

We entered into the barrier on my ice chunk, and as soon as I did, I heard Lene shout from below. "Big brother! Mother is home!"

"Lene! Don't run! Be careful!"

I peered down off the ice chunk to see a smiling, giggling Lene running towards me blindly as Asmonious rushed after her. I hopped down off of the ice chunk, then raised my hands up to catch Lovi. 

"Come on. Come meet them."

Asmonious finally caught up to Lene and picked her up. He struggled to hide his curiosity as Lovi crawled down into my arms where I sat her on the ground.

I motioned to them, "These are my other disciples. Everyone, say hello to Lovi."

Asmonious smiled sweetly, "Hello. I'm Moni."

I shivered. 

Ugh. I still can't get used to that name.

Lovi stared him down, her body trembling when she met his eyes. She jumped to hide behind me, peering out to look at him. I nudged her to give her courage, "See. He accepts you." 

She mumbled to herself, "It feels like he can see right through me…"

Asmonious ignored this and put down Lene. "Lene. Go say hello."

Lene scampered towards us blindly while holding out her hands to find us. I grabbed her hand and brought her over to Lovi. Lene felt her face, "Whoa! Sissy?"

Lovi glowered at her, "Not Sissy. My name is Lovi."

"Sissy!!!!" Lene threw her arms around her in a tight hug, "Sissy so cute!"

A faint blush came across her pale cheeks, "Piss off…"

I immediately became cross, "No swearing!"

Lene laughed and jumped up and down, "Piss! Piss! Piss!"

"No! Lene! Not you too! That's a bad word! A very bad word!"

I glanced over at Asmonious to see him smiling affectionately and felt myself smiling with him.

I'm glad he's not upset.

For a moment, I was worried that he would be offended by her standoffish behavior.

I approached him and placed my hand on his shoulder, "Is it okay?"

He raised his head to grin at me, "Of course. Why wouldn't it be, Master?"

"Um… Well… Okay." I rubbed his head, "You'll always be my perfect boy, but I hope you know you can always tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable."

He chuckled and reached up to grab my hand. He smiled sweetly as he held my hand, "I told you that you could rely on me, Master."

I smiled back at him, "Such a reliable boy." I turned back to the two girls and placed my hands on my hips, "I guess our little cave is about to get more cramped… Should I ask the villagers to come help me build a house?"

Asmonious's face lit up, "Master!!! I have something to show you!"

He held my hand as he pulled me to the other side of the mountain. The two girls followed us, with Lovi pulling Lene by the hand. Asmonious pointed down the hill, "Do you like it, Master?"

I followed his finger and was surprised to see two small buildings with a courtyard wall surrounding them, made in a traditional Korean style. I walked towards it, speechless, "What's this?"

He bounced after me, "You keep mentioning you wanted a house, so I built you one! I didn't have time to finish all of the rooms yet… I've only built the exterior so far. Tomorrow I can work on finishing the kitchen."

I ran my hand along the solid wall, "H-How did you do all of this?"

"For the walls, I used soil and wood. I made tiles from stone and for the windows, I used paper."

"N-No… I mean how? You're just a child!!! How did you make this? I was only gone for a day!"

"O-Oh. I've been working on it whenever you've been asleep… Didn't you notice?"

My cheeks flushed as I recalled how I had been so busy chasing around Lene when she was awake, my surroundings went unnoticed. I entered into the courtyard, sucking in my breath. Seeing that familiar traditional style, I had a sinking feeling take root in my stomach. 

I gulped down my anxiety, "But… This design… How did you come up with it?"

"Oh, that?" He pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to me, "You designed it, remember? I went based on your drawing."

I swayed in shock, plopping down on the ground as I stared off in a daze. I muttered, "No… No. It has to be a coincidence… It has to be…"

Lene reached out, feeling up my face as I stared off in a daze, "Mother isn't asleep?"

Asmonious lowered his eyes to the ground in dejection, "...Master. Do you not like it?"

I snapped out of my stupor, "No! No! I like it! It's just… I'm just surprised, that's all."

He raised his eyes slowly with a slight smile, "So you do like it?"

"I do." I held my hands out to him where he grinned and rushed into my arms. I hugged him as I rubbed his back, "You are so impressive, my perfect disciple."

He giggled as he snuggled up to me. Lene could feel me hugging Asmonious so she wrapped her arms around my neck to join the hug. Lovi watched from the distance, envy present in her one visible eye.

I noticed her jealous look and held my hand out, "Do you want a hug too?"

She clicked her tongue, crossing her arms and looking away, "No thanks."

I laughed as she remained firm, but kept casting jealous glances at us. I turned to Lene, "Lene. Can you go give her a hug? I think she feels left out."

"HUG!" 

Lene ran toward Lovi who dodged her effortlessly, "Get away from me!!! How can you even see me?!"

Lene giggled, "Because you're loud!"

As the two ran around the courtyard, Asmonious set up a campfire and prepared a meal. I sat down beside him, amazed by his survival skills.

Asmonious shouted to the two girls, "Are you hungry?"

They rushed to him, "Hungry!"

As they ate, I stared at the three children with conflicting emotions.

It is a coincidence… Right?

Lene jumped on me, startling me from my thoughts, "Mother! Tell a story!"

I chuckled, "Okay… Okay. How about a love story between an owl and a human prophet?"

Lene pouted, "I hate love stories."

However, Lovi perked up. She sat closer to me with interest in her eyes, "How can an owl and a human have a love story?"

I grinned ear to ear, "Let me tell you."

After Asmonious and Lovi fell asleep, I tucked them into their temporary beds. I turned to Lene and found her trying to scale the wall. I quickly caught her and pulled her down, "Lene. You like making webs, right?"

She nodded, "Yes!"

"What if we make hammocks for everyone to sleep in?"

"What's a hammock?"

After explaining to her, she went to work creating them based on a sense of touch alone. This task kept her busy until the morning when we both quickly fell asleep with the hammocks spread around us.

Over the next few days, the four of us worked hard to turn the courtyard house into a livable place. Eventually, Lovi became more comfortable and soon it was like she had always lived with us.

I lay near the fire, enjoying the crackling warmth while staring up at the stars.

Lovi lay on her stomach, mumbling to herself as her face was buried in the grass, "Life is only pain and misery…"

I came to realize quickly that while Lovi always spoke in a pessimistic manner, she still had moments of sweet naivety. 

Lene played with her hair, "Life is fun for Lene!"

Asmonious stopped sculpting and handed it over, "Here, Lovi. I made you a toy."

She picked up her head and took it, "...What's this supposed to be?"

"A horse… It doesn't look like it?"

"Ah." Her magic poured out of her hand and encapsulated the toy, "There. I cursed it."

I nearly fell over in shock, "WHY DID YOU CURSE IT?!"

She snickered, "Think of the poor sucker who uses it. I'm smiling just thinking about it." 

Lene felt the wooden horse blindly,  "What kind of curse?"

"A confusion curse… If it's around, you'll never find the direction you need to go… You're welcome."

I let out a sigh and shook my head in exasperation.

What kind of child did I pick up?

Rehabilitation is going to be really hard to complete with this one…

Asmonious stared closely at that wooden horse, his expression unreadable.