I Taken

It was natural for any child to squirm and shudder at the idea of being in a lab, especially out in the middle of nowhere when it was bitter cold outside. This was for his mother though, as young Loqi Tummelt had to remind himself. Even at five years old he could tell that she was sick, and she even said that these visits were with good scientists and doctors that could help her get better. Why she took him with her instead of leaving him in the comfort of the manor with their other distant relatives and staff was far beyond his understanding, but he did his best to sit quietly with his stuffed chocobo. Like any other ordinary five year old though Loqi soon grew bored of staying put as the minutes passed by in silence. After squirming and fidgeting impatiently the child then decided that it would be fine to walk around just a little bit as long as he didn't touch anything and didn't wander to far.

For the most part the lab creeped him out as the long metallic hallways looked the same and seemed to go on forever like an enchanted maze in the fairy tales that had been read to him before. Then there were the people seemingly sleeping in the over-sized test tubes. Not once did he dare to get to close to them, for while not one of them ever seemed to budge the child was worried that one might wake and break out of its confinement to snatch him up. Turning his eyes away from them, he stopped once he heard the undeniable soft cries of a baby.

Hesitantly following the noise he soon found the infant boy alone in another room seemingly abandoned in a small plastic tote labeled "defective" though Loqi wasn't quite at reading level just yet. Wondering where his parents were, Loqi stood on his tip toes to get a better look at him and gently poked the fussy blonde baby. Oddly enough he was quick to stop his fussing now that someone was paying a bit of attention to him, and wrapped his small soft baby hand around the child's finger while staring up at him with curious blue eyes.

"Shhh see? It's okay..."

Gently pulling his hand away he then quickly replaced it with his chocobo plush before he could cry again. Instantly it was grabbed at and drooled on, as to be expected from any infant. As Loqi continued to watch him for a few minutes he wondered if he should attempt to go find an adult so this baby would be properly taken care of, but then he was bound to get in trouble for not staying put. It was also noticeable that they did look alike, but his mother would surely tell him if he had a baby brother wouldn't she? Besides he hadn't even gone and asked for one.

Hearing a pair of seemingly hurried footsteps from down the hall immediately pulled him away from his current train of thought as he instinctively hid behind other storage containers that needed to be disposed of. Sure enough he heard the footsteps skid to a halt right outside the room, but Loqi stayed low and silent as the stranger quietly entered the room and paused to look down at the nameless infant. Bravely poking his head out just enough to see him properly Loqi could tell right away that he didn't belong in this lab for the black uniform he wore stood out far too much in this environment. While it took him a moment to notice the small Lucian insignia on his jacket, but before he could put the pieces together his baby brother in question was gently scooped up and quietly whisked away.

"S-Stop!"

At first Loqi stumbled when he tried to quickly get to his feet in an attempt to chase down the Lucian. By the time he was back out into the hall the man had seemingly vanished. Thankfully his mother had previously told him where the alarms were on the walls in case he ever needed to push one in an emergency. This situation most certainly qualified for it, even if he got in trouble after he explained himself. The button was quickly spotted, and while it thankfully wasn't encased in glass it took him a few jump attempts to finally reach before he successfully slammed his tiny fist down on it. Sure enough the whole facility was blaring with sound in an instant, making him instantly cover his ears as he made his way back to where he had been first told to stay put. Whatever it took for him to get his baby brother back. If not today then he would make it happen in the future because he was never going to forget that man's face...

It was apparent moments after he opened his eyes that he was in a hospital room. The last thing General Loqi Tummelt could clearly remember was blacking out on the battlefield just moments before his max-curiass went up in flames. It seemed that he had hit the eject button in time after all, but who had gotten him to safety and just how long had he been out were entirely a mystery to him.

It was no surprise that such an early memory resurfaced in his dreams, for he had been so distracted in his recent battle considering he had actually found his stolen brother. Twenty years with no signs of him, but he knew that face anywhere thanks to his several visits to the lab that housed countless numbers of clones waiting to be turned into Mts. Without a doubt his brother was on the Lucian side of this war, with the Prince and the damn Marshal of all things. It fueled his rage and hatred even more for the man that took him away to begin with.

Cursing under his breath for his own carelessness that he showed such weakness and a humiliating defeat the young General did his best to slowly sit up despite the pain he was in. It seemed he was on enough morphine for the time being that he wasn't suffering as much as he could be, but not enough for him to be high on the stuff. As far as he could tell nothing had been broken, but he didn't dare to try to get up and move around due to the amount of bruising he was about to have, not to mention that all the bandages he had on the worst of his burns suggested he had already had skin grafting surgeries. He would get the full speech from the doctor shortly, and wouldn't be surprised if he had to go through a period of physical therapy before he could even consider getting back out on the battlefield.

At least I'm alive.

He tried to remind himself of that much. But now on top of doing all he could to end the war sooner rather than later and getting his brother back; he now had to redeem himself because of the shame that this pitiful defeat brought upon the good name of House Tummelt. This long and surely tedious recovery ahead of him would at least give him time to properly think he decided, even though he let out a huff of frustration as he flopped back against the pillows and finally hit the button to call the nurse.

I'll get you back little brother...You'll see.

It was unfortunately no surprise that he had found him fighting for the enemy. What other reason would the Lucians have for breaking into a lab and stealing a subject of human experimentation that was to be discarded? There was no telling what kind of brain washing he might have been subjected to over these past two decades, but Loqi had no intentions of taking his brother anywhere near the labs in Niflheim again.

Priorities needed to be straightened out first thing, but for now Loqi wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep for a while and hatch his plans as soon as he felt a bit better. Or so he thought possible until he heard someone enter the room moments later. He cracked an eye open and expected to see a nurse checking up on him, but instead he growled in a mix of disgust and disappoint at the man looming over his bedside. He forced himself to sit up again through the pain he still felt; every fiber of his being boiled in a rage far greater than any enemy that he had come across as he tightly gripped the sheets in frustration at the fairly hopeless situation he was in. If he had any of his weapons near him at this time then the old gray scientist before him would be killed without a moment's hesitation as he should have done years ago.

"Hello father."