Cye’s mom was chatting with some other carvation woman in their living room. He hated how she constantly had company over to talk about the worst things, usually aimed towards making him feel bad or shamed. It happened too much to be a coincidence.

“Cye, get over here!” his mother shouted from two rooms over. 

He groaned and got up from his position lying down on his bed. He had a massive migraine and wanted his suffering to just end already. Cye walked into the living room to see his mom talking to a frog variant carvation about her age. They looked like they had been talking seriously, and that worried him.

“Yeah?”

“Who’s that one coworker you have?” she snapped. “It’s the one who got it’s chest cut off and started the trend up here.”

“Sidney?” Cye asked. “Yeah, they were the first carvation to go to The Living and try top sur-”

“See?” his mom exclaimed. “Damn humans were the ones to start sending The Village down the shithole!”

“Heaven, my son’s never going near them!” the other mother said. “Not if I can help it.”

Cye had to take a seat there awkwardly as the two women fed on each other’s negative attitudes for minutes on end. If he walked away now, his mom would just gaslight him later for being disrespectful, so just withstanding the migraine in his head and the two right in front of him would have to happen.

“I mean, it’s just ridiculous!” his mother said, raising her voice. His headache worsened. “They’re running around calling themselves whatever they want!”

“They should just be happy with what they’re born with.”

“Exactly! I mean, look at my daughter,” she said, gesturing to Cye. That comment made him feel a stabbing pain in more than his head. That one was personal.

“Mum…” he mumbled. “I-”

“She was so happy before,” she continued, ignoring him. “And now she’s just miserable day in and day out because of what they did to her!”

“How awful,” the other woman said, giving Cye a sympathetic glance. “Little girl didn’t deserve any of that.”

“I’m not-”

“And her magic’s nonexistent because of her magic disability.”

That was one of the lies Cye hated the most. His mom told everyone he had a magic disability and that’s why he couldn’t use much magic at all. She wouldn’t dare admit to anyone that her son had an eating problem. She’d rather say that her daughter was born unfairly.

“Poor thing. With or without magic, she’ll grow into a wonderful carvation though.”

His mom gave the woman a glance that spelled out that she definitely gave the wrong answer to that.

“But I’m sure she can catch up with the others,” she quickly added.

“If she tried for once,” Cye’s mom snarled, giving him a cold side-eye.

*   *   *   *   *

“Hey, hey,” Sona barked. “Keep those lower arms in a firm grip.”

“I’m trying,” struggled Cye.

When times got stressful, sometimes Cye would get instruction from Sona, The Village’s military captain, to take his mind off of things. Today they were practicing throws, and Sona was trying to instruct him on one that only a few carvations could do, because it required four arms. 

“Grab the arm and shirt with the top hands, and the bottom ones lift the leg and waist.”

Cye only managed to partially throw her and just let her fall to the ground halfway. He just felt too weak to do it right. Sona just rubbed her arm and got up. She didn’t yell at him for getting things wrong; she just told him how to do it right.

“No offense, but you’re too heavy for me to throw,” Cye panted, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“We’ll make you stronger then.”

“Funny joke,” he said with a light laugh. “I’ve got a boyfriend I could probably throw no problem. Can we get him for practice?”

“This exercise isn’t about strength,” she said. “It’s about control.”

“I haven't felt that in a while…” he mumbled, sitting down. 

Sona reached into her bag and threw Cye a fruit, which he caught and bit into. There wasn’t much use in arguing with Sona about eating. She believed in maintaining the body and always keeping it fueled just in case. It was his favorite kind anyway.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked, crunching into a fruit herself. “Haven’t been focused all day.”

“Nothing really.”

“A friend replied that to my question once. He was hiding something.”

“What was he hiding?” Cye asked curiously.

“A sister who tried to kill us,” she casually said with a shrug. “But you aren’t hiding a sister who wants to kill us, right?” He shook his head.

“No, just an older one who went to The Living work on a cattle ranch.”

“Strange dream job,” mumbled Sona. “But open up. It’s dragging your training down.”

Cye thought about telling her everything about his mother, but felt himself hold back. His mom had already told him once that if she caught him spreading “lies” about her, she’d make sure he wouldn’t be able to come back to The Village ever again. He sighed and took another bite to stall for time.

“I just… need some more sleep,” he lied. “Hasn’t been great.”

“Nightmares again?”

“No, no just trouble falling asleep.”

Sona clearly knew he was lying, but wasn’t specialized in getting people to open up. She usually did that with a fist to their throat, but she didn’t really want to do that to Cye. 

“You thought about seeing a therapist before?” she asked offhandedly. “Someone to get everything out to?”

“No,” laughed Cye. “Mum doesn’t want me going to those.”

“Why?”

“Says they’re garbage, and she could do all their magic herself.”

“I’ve got a buddy who-”

“Is this the same one with the sister?”

“He’s got a lot of baggage,” she explained. “But he went to a therapist and now he’s almost mentally stable. It can work.”

Cye thought about what would happen if he let a therapist dive into his mind.

“I’ll think about it,” he lied, mentally and emotionally trapped by his mother.

*   *   *   *   *

The mantis boy was, once again, trying to concentrate on drawing new tattoo designs. He hadn’t been able to actually finish one in weeks, and wanted to just get one done already. But he groaned in frustration as someone knocked at the door. He waited for a minute, hoping that his mom might get the door.

“Honey, get your ass to the door!”

He gave a depressing sigh while he glided over to the door. As soon as he turned the knob and saw who was there, his heart skipped a beat. Sona stared down at him, and Cye slammed the door back in her face in panic.

“Hey!” Sona barked, knocking on the door. “Open back up!”

“Who was that?” Cye’s mom demanded, strolling towards the front door.

“Nothing!” Cye said, blocking the door. 

“Don’t lie to me,” she hissed, shoving Cye out of the way.

His mom put her eye to the peephole, and Cye got to watch her face in utter surprise before Sona kicked the door in, hitting her in the forehead. She cried out, stumbled backwards, and rubbed her forehead. Sona strolled in, not looking a small bit sorry for literally kicking their door in.

“You’re Cye’s mother?” Sona asked, pointing to her.

“What the hell are you?!” his mom demanded.

“I’ve been alerted to you performing unethical mind magic on your son here,” she said, reading off of a blank notepad. Cye’s mother darted her eyes to Cye, looking like she was about to murder him.

“I don’t know what lies she’s been spreading about me, but her-”

“Sorry ma’am,” Sona interrupted, putting her hand up. “But your son hasn’t said anything. Your magic on him set off a spell I had on him.”

“Without her permission, you set a spell on my dau-”

“Please, stop talking,” Sona groaned. “You’re giving me a headache. Just come with me nice and easy. You’re only going in for a couple hours.” Sona started moving towards her.

“Get back!” his mom howled. She gave Sona a shove backwards, and when she did something triggered. From below Sona’s clothes, a set of chains made of light flew out of her sleeves and wrapped around the mother’s arms, binding them together.

“You think I go breaking down doors without putting a trap spell on myself?” she asked. “I think you need a time out.”

“No,” she hissed.

“Baby jail for you,” Sona smirked, teleporting away with Cye’s mother, leaving him standing there awkwardly. After a few seconds, Sona teleported back to his side.

“So… you just arrested my mom?” he asked. Sona looked at her watch.

“For a few hours, yeah. Then she’s free.” Cye was silently disappointed. “Wanna come crash at my place for a while?”

“Really?” Cye asked, tilting his head.

“Yeah. I’ve got a bed and a couch, so you can take the floor.”

“Oh.”

“You can fight my roommate for the couch.” Sona looked around the house for a second. “Do you have any other family here?”

“I don’t think dad’s going to notice if I disappear for a few hours… or a few days.”

“Alright then, you ready?”

“One second,” Cye said. He rushed to grab his sketchbook, drawing materials, and mantises. “Ok, now I’m ready.”

*   *   *   *   *

The two of them appeared in Sona’s modestly furnished house. It was mostly the bare minimum to look like a living space. Cye thought it was pretty unremarkable. The living room connected to the kitchen, and there was a hall leading to one bedroom, a bathroom, and a couple closets. A really small place for carvations.

“This is the base of operations,” she said proudly. Cye felt cramped just standing around.

“How do you have a roommate in this place?”

“Sit on the couch and see,” Sona warned, going to the fridge and taking out a jar of pickles. She began to munch them. “The only way to get him out of hiding.”

Cye slowly inched towards the couch, looking around cautiously as he did so. He gently sat down on the couch and braced himself, but nothing happened. Right as he was about to note that to Sona, something large and bulky shot out from seemingly nowhere. A fat, roud, pink bird angrily pecked at his antenna on his head while Sona laughed hysterically.

“That’s Bugger, a pinkgeon. He likes the couch. A lot.”

“Get him off!” Cye screamed.

“Get off the couch,” she advised.

Cye gathered his things and tumbled off the couch and onto the floor. He panted and looked up at the bird, terrified. The pinkgeon gave him a look of contempt and gave a small angry chirp at him.

“I thought pinkgeons were peaceful!” Cye complained.

“Yeah, well, there’s always exceptions,” Sona said proudly, strolling over and scratching Bugger’s chin. “I’m proud of how far he’s come.”

“You trained that thing?”

“Hey, I trained you, didn’t I?” Sona smirked. “Why would the bird be harder?” Cye wanted to argue, but just shrugged.

“Fair enough.”

Cye took his place laying on the ground while Sona sat on the couch with Bugger happily plopped down in her lap. They spent the rest of the day relaxing, something that Sona hardly ever did. She didn’t mind this time though, and smiled at Cye scribbling in his sketchbook.

*   *   *   *   *

There wasn’t anything that Cye dreaded more than going back home. Sona guided him to the front door and knocked. Cye’s heart rate elevated, and Sona put a hand on his shoulder. The door opened, and Cye’s mother gave them both a snarl with a clenched jaw.

“Give me my daughter back,” she barked, grabbing Cye’s arm. A snapping sound ripped through the air, and his mom reeled her hand away, looking at the new bruise on it. Sona put a trap on Cye.

“We’re going to talk about a few things,” Sona said firmly. “Because I have deemed you unfit for raising a child, by the order of The Temple, I am taking guardianship of Cye until a time you are deemed fit to continue watching over him.”

“You are not-” She went to grab Cye again, but hesitated to touch him. Sona smiled. 

“Thank you for your cooperation, ma’am.”

“Honey,” his mom said, turning on a pleading tone. “You wouldn’t leave your actual mother to go stay with this… this… bug bitch!”

Cye said nothing and turned away, giving her his answer. His mother clearly wanted to hit one of them or take what she thought was hers, but was afraid of another trap being sprung on her. Sona proudly took Cye and teleported away, leaving Cye’s mom fuming at the doorstep.