"Do you remember Mum singing?" Lilith's questions took Levi off guard as he blinked hard before responding.
"What?"
"Her voice, how she used to sing whenever she cleaned the old house."
Levi swallowed so hard that a lump formed inside his throat. "Yeah..." He said. "I remember."
"I miss that, I missed when everything was looking good." She said with her head low.
Levi just kept quiet, looking at her.
It hadn't always been like this; the Lupin family once lived in a sleek brownstone house in Upper Bus Town. Just after the war, before the underground.
Their father, Magus Lupin. Had been a Lord over Mortals. One of the richest muggles in the city. A man who represented the government. His face was in the weekly local newspaper.
After marrying their mother, Eunji, at a very young age. She was brilliant in every way and soft-spoken. Always humming when she cleaned, the scent of lavender followed her wherever she went.
Levi remembered when both his parents had danced together in the kitchen, his dad in a sleek suit, his mom in her cleaning clothes, as they both skidded along the tiles like royalty.
But then came the war, which changed everything they had known.
Magus had funded some of the first biotech resistance efforts. When they failed, his wealth crumbled. Laws changed, taxes swelled, and corporations depleted. Magus, left with nothing, turned to bad habits.
The bets started illegal arena matches. Cyber racing, AI stock flipping. Levi remembered the shouts, the broken glasses, and the nights his mother cried silently. Then, the hitting. Not accepted, but it showed. Levi had seen the bruises.
Levi remembered the moments when fear was vivid in his mother's expression whenever Magus was at home. How her smile faded into silence.
And then, one night just like that... She was gone. No notes, no goodbyes, nothing. She walked out the door without looking back. Levi was just nine, and Lilith was five.
"Do you think she's alive?" Lilith asked suddenly, out of the blue. Bringing Levi back to reality.
"What?"
"Mom... Do you still think she's out there?"
Levi stared at her blankly. "No..." His response came with uncertainty.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." He lied.
Lilith's head came low as silence filled the room again. "When dad started getting worse... I had hoped she'd come back, that she'd notice how worse he had gotten and come to our rescue. Stupid! Right?"
Levi stood up abruptly, he couldn't sit anymore. He walked over to the window, observing the dim lights of the lower city. "It wasn't stupid." He said. "You were a child."
"We both were." Lilith defended. "I was the one who found him, Levi..."
Levi turned. Lilith's voice trembled, her face turning pale. "I was the one who found his body hanging from the handrail on the staircase up here. Do you remember?"
Levi closed his eyes, forcing back a tear. "Yes."
"I stood there for God knows how long before I screamed."
"I know."
"No..." She whispered. "You don't. You weren't even at home."
"I was out to get something for us to eat." Levi opened his eyes slowly. "Pay the debt... That's what the note he left behind read."
Lilith laughed sadly. "Like some balance sheets, he didn't finish settling."
Levi's fist clenched.
"And now you're still paying." She said. "Levi, you sold your kidney and liver, gave up your eye."
"I did it for you," Levi said, his words painfully hurting him.
"I didn't ask you to."
Levi turned away again, his hand now resting on the window. His breath fogged the cracked window glass.
"I'm sorry." Lilith apologised softly. But Levi kept quiet. "Don't fight again, please. You've suffered enough already."
Levi shook his head sadly. "I have no other option."
"Yes, you do." She pleaded. "We could leave this place, run away."
"They'll find us. You know they would." Levi said.
Lilith stood, crossing the room over to Levi's back. She hugged him from behind, resting her head between his shoulder blades. "You're all I have."
He closed his eyes. "So I'll keep fighting until I don't need to anymore."
Levi had barely shut his eyes to sleep since he was too tense to even lie his head. After putting Lilith in bed just at the break of dawn, Levi set out for his morning routine.
Levi stepped out, the sky still clouded in darkness. The cold biting into his skin through the thin fabric he wore as a shirt. The city was even quieter since citizens took their rest at this time. Levi felt on top of the world as his boots hit the cracked pavement in a harsh, steady rhythm.
Levi passed through the flickering neon lights and storefronts with rusted shutters, sleeping beggars curled in old blankets. Just before him was the towering monorail, quiet at this time. As it stretched across the skyline like a ribcage.
Levi made a quick turn as he jogged into a narrow alley. Behind a gas station where he used to park before it was shut down. Crates, cans, and a punching bag. This was his space.
He dropped his duffle bag, unzipping it. He pulled out some used bandages, worn and faded. Levi tightened the bandage around his wrist as he progressed to wrapping his hands. All done, he faced the punching bag. And he began.
One, two, duck, cross, step back, jab, pivot, elbow.
Fists after fists connected with the sand bag. With his breath sharpening, his eyes narrow. The stress from yesterday was still evident. As his mind drifted to things he didn't want to remember.
Lilith just had two vials remaining, and he was already out of Scrip. His vision blurred, sweat pouring down his brow. His lungs ached. Only when his knuckles ached did he stop as he held tight onto the punching bag, hugging it.
It was time to go home. Levi packed up his kit as he turned into the alley, and that was when he saw them, just in front of him, stood four figures.