The training room had gone completely silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence.
The suffocating kind.
The kind that settled after something broke.
Neo's breathing was still uneven against Lucas's chest, every inhale shaky, every exhale trembling like his body no longer knew how to calm down properly. His fingers were tightly twisted into the fabric of Lucas's shirt, gripping it unconsciously like he needed something solid to keep himself grounded.
Lucas stayed still.
One arm wrapped firmly around Neo's back while the other rested at the back of his head, keeping him tucked close without forcing him. He could feel the shaking. The way Neo tried to suppress it every few seconds only for it to return worse.
And for the first time in a very long time.
Lucas felt furious in a way he couldn't immediately control.
Not irritation. Not annoyance.
Fury. Cold. and sharp.
Dangerous.
Because he had seen fear before. He had seen men beg for their lives, seen people break under pressure, seen blood spill like water without blinking twice.
But this?
This wasn't fear. This was damage.
Carefully planted into someone until it rooted itself deep enough to survive years later.
Lucas lowered his gaze slightly toward the trembling boy in his arms.
Neo still wasn't speaking.
His shoulders shook once more before he clenched his jaw hard, trying to force himself back together.
"I'm…" Neo swallowed harshly. "…I'm okay now."
Lucas' expression hardened immediately.
"No, you're not."
Neo went quiet.
"I pushed too far," Lucas continued, his voice calmer now but heavier somehow. "I should've stopped earlier."
Neo shook his head quickly against him.
"No....it's not your fault."
Lucas almost laughed at that.
Not because it was funny.
But because even now Neo was apologizing for something done to him.
"That's the problem," Lucas muttered quietly.
Neo slowly pulled away just enough to look up at him, eyes red, lashes damp, breathing still unstable.
"What?"
Lucas stared at him for a moment before answering.
"You keep acting like pain is something you're supposed to endure quietly."
Neo froze slightly.
Lucas continued before he could interrupt.
"You apologize when you're hurt. You apologize when you're overwhelmed. You apologize when something affects you." His jaw tightened faintly. "As if needing help is somehow weakness."
Neo's lips parted slightly but no words came out.
Because the worst part was, he didn't even realize he did it anymore.
Lucas noticed the realization settle into his expression and his gaze softened just barely.
"You don't apologize for surviving something painful, Neo."
That one sentence nearly broke him again.
Neo looked away immediately, throat tightening hard.
The room suddenly felt too warm.
Too exposed.
He hated crying. Hated it.
Especially in front of someone else.
And yet here he was.
Again.
Lucas reached for the bottle of water nearby before handing it to him quietly.
Neo took it with slightly trembling hands, avoiding eye contact as he opened it.
His fingers were still shaking.
Lucas noticed.
Of course he did.
Neo drank slowly, trying to steady himself while Lucas leaned back against the wall beside him now, watching carefully but not suffocating him with attention.
For a while neither of them spoke.
The silence this time wasn't uncomfortable.
Just heavy.
Then Neo laughed softly.
A broken kind of laugh.
"I hate this," he admitted quietly.
Lucas' brows furrowed slightly.
"Hate what?"
Neo stared down at the bottle in his hands.
"How easy it was for me to fall back into it."
Lucas stayed quiet.
Neo continued before he could stop himself.
"When you started moving like him…" his voice dropped lower, almost ashamed. "…my body remembered before my mind did."
Lucas' jaw clenched faintly.
Neo laughed again bitterly.
"Funny right? You spend years trying to bury something and then one familiar movement drags everything back out like it never left."
Lucas looked away for a brief second.
Because he understood that more than Neo realized.
"You were trained under fear," Lucas finally said. "People don't just forget that."
Neo swallowed hard.
"No," he whispered. "We don't."
The door suddenly opened.
Both of them looked up immediately.
Aiden stepped in first.
Then stopped.
The joking expression he had been wearing disappeared almost instantly.
"…Neo?"
Neo quickly wiped at his face.
Too late.
Aiden had already seen enough.
His eyes shifted between Neo and Lucas before settling back on Neo again, concern immediately replacing everything else.
"What happened?"
Neo opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Aiden moved closer immediately.
"Hey." His voice softened. "Talk to me."
Neo looked away again.
Lucas answered instead.
"The training triggered memories."
Aiden stilled.
Completely.
For a second his expression emptied in a way that looked almost frightening.
Then slowly, understanding settled in.
"…You used the pattern."
Lucas nodded once.
Aiden exhaled sharply through his nose before dragging a hand down his face.
"Yeah," he muttered quietly. "That'll do it."
He moved until he was standing directly in front of Neo now.
Neo still couldn't look at him properly.
Not because he was ashamed of Aiden.
But because Aiden knew him too well.
"You broke down?" Aiden asked softly.
Neo gave the smallest nod.
Aiden's expression immediately softened.
Not pity. Never pity.
Just understanding.
Because if their positions had been reversed, Neo would've understood too.
Aiden crouched slightly in front of him, elbows resting loosely on his knees.
"You wanna know something annoying?" he asked quietly.
Neo frowned slightly despite himself.
"What?"
Aiden sighed dramatically.
"I almost lost my mind too."
Neo blinked.
"Huh?"
Aiden looked up toward the ceiling briefly.
"The moment Kellan started using those movements…" he laughed weakly. "…I swear I could hear his voice in my head again."
Neo's fingers tightened around the water bottle.
Aiden noticed immediately.
"That's what trauma does," he continued more seriously now. "It waits. Quietly. Then suddenly one small thing unlocks everything again."
Neo stared at him silently.
"And it sucks," Aiden added honestly. "Like really sucks."
That pulled the tiniest breath of laughter from Neo.
Small. Fragile.
But there.
Aiden smiled slightly seeing it.
"There he is," he muttered.
Lucas watched both of them quietly from the side.
And for the first time, He fully understood something important.
D'uther hadn't simply trained them.
He had carved himself into them.
Into their instincts.
Into memory.
Into fear.
And that was exactly how they also carved out they had to be there for each other no matter how hard it got, they had to stick together to survive.
And that realization alone made Lucas' anger rise all over again.
Aiden noticed his expression from the corner of his eye.
"You're pissed," he said quietly.
Lucas' gaze darkened slightly.
"He built weapons out of children."
The room went silent again.
Because nobody disagreed.
Nobody could.
After a while Aiden leaned back slightly before looking toward Neo again.
"You know what the worst part is?"
Neo looked at him tiredly.
"What?"
Aiden smiled weakly.
"We still remember everything perfectly."
Neo's expression slowly fell again.
Because that was true too.
Painfully true.
Every stance. Every command. Every movement. Everything was still there.
Still alive inside them.
Lucas pushed himself off the wall finally.
"Then we change it."
Both boys looked at him.
Lucas' eyes were calm now.
Certain.
"We take what he taught you," he said steadily, "and rebuild it into something that belongs to you instead."
Neo stared at him quietly.
Lucas stepped closer.
"He trained you to survive him." His voice lowered slightly. "I'll train you so you never fear him again."
And somehow, those words settled somewhere deep inside Neo's chest.
Not comfort.
Not reassurance.
Something stronger.
Safety.
Something he hadn't truly felt in years.
And for the first time since seeing D'uther again.
Neo's breathing finally steadied properly.
"So I want both of you to be each other's shadow just like the way you both fought in that alley" Lucas said looking at them.
"During that period if I remember properly you both" kellan paused looking at both of them "your movement was synchronized as though you could both read each other's mind that's what we need from both of you, we need both you all to be in the game" Kellan said "if you both can use that same zeal that same determination and focus you both had just in that short period then we're good to go".
"I'll get everything and everyone working on there on roles this is not going to be easy at all but if we together as familiar then we could actually pull some things off" Lucas said pacing around the room "if we can crack the code of these patterns of movement then we're all good".
"I do have a serious question though" Aiden said looking at both of them "where exactly did you both learn that movement from because even if we displayed some of that pattern it was not as far as what you both displayed today" .