Break Me

Prologue
“Lucian, don’t be stubborn! I miss you. I haven’t seen you or Seth in a year…” Stella sighed lightly. She was about ready to hang up. This was her last chance to convince her older brother, Lucian, to come and stay with her on Olympus for the Fourth of July.

“It’s only a stupid American holiday, Stella. We’re not even American. Why are you so hyped up about this?” Lucian asked. There was screaming in the background of Lucian’s line. A little boy’s screaming, to be exact. And not a scream in a scared way, in a fun way. “Seth! Get off the curtains! Gah! No! No! Stop!...I told you.” Now there was crying.

“Seth?” Stella asked. “Why is he crying?” Lucian sighed.

“He was swinging off of the curtains. He nearly fell out the window. Thank god that he only fell on the floor.” Lucian reply. There was a little bit of noise, like he was readjusting the phone by his ear.

Stella sat down on an old couch in the H.Q. It was a nasty brown color that usually would make her feel her stomach contents at the bottom of her throat, but this time she was too annoyed to even let a bit of her attention slip away onto the couch.

“You need to watch him better…he isn’t sick anymore, is he?” She asked. Lucian didn’t answer for a good thirty seconds, but he was definitely still there. She could tell by her beloved little brother’s crying.

“Yea…he’s still not doing too good, Stels.” It must’ve been bad. Horrible, maybe. Lucian never called her “Stels” unless there was something he was nervous to tell her about. “He’s still dealing with that…thing.”

“What do you mean by ‘that thing’, Lucian?” Her voice had turned deadly serious.

“You know…the type II ‘Brittle bone disease’…don’t worry, I have it under control. He’s taking his medicine…but the ADD is not a good mix with it, you know? He can’t sit still for more than five minutes.” Lucian sounded sad; heart-broken. Stella knew well that he loved Seth just as much as she did. Since they left their home with their mother and Catherine went MIA, it was hard to keep in contact and take care of Seth together.

“Please come, Lucian. ''Please. ''I need to see you and him. I’ll do anything! Let me pay for the plane ticket!”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“He wants to see me. He has to.” Stella said. And just as she did, Seth stopped crying and gasped.

“Is that Stella-bella!?” Seth nearly screamed. “Are you talking to her!? Ooh, ooh! Can I talk to her? Pleaseeee, Lu-lu?” Lucian grumbled not to call him that. He reluctantly handed the phone to his little brother.

“Hey, buddy!” Stella said, forcing happiness into her voice. “How have you been?”

“Good! But I think my leg is brok-”

“Hand the phone back to Lu-lu, Seth! Please!”

<p style="line-height:normal">“But I want to talk to you! I haven’t seen you in forever! Please don’t make me give the phone back!”

<p style="line-height:normal">“Seth, this is serious! You need to go to the doctors’!” Seth whined.

<p style="line-height:normal">“Okay…” He hung up.

<p style="line-height:normal">Stella pulled her knees up to her chest, and started to sob softly. She sometimes wondered why she ever agreed to found the Heroes Organization with Rachel Hughes. Sometimes she just wanted to have stayed with Lucian and Seth. Stay somewhat of a family, and perhaps cling to that little bit of normal they still had in their life. But that was not possible anymore. She had made the decisions she did…and there was no going back.

<p style="line-height:normal">She got up, then went to order the decorations, fireworks, and food. She was going to make this 4th of July the best she could. Even if Lucian did not come, she would make something out of it. Just so everyone else could be happy.

<p style="line-height:normal">She knew they struggled too, sometimes. Or at least she thought they did. Who could be taken away from the normal that humans call a life and not be stressed out? Or home sick…well, former life sick.