The Chains

Adam's amber, Ella's hazel, and Titus' dull green eyes all reflected in the pure silver of Adam's new blade as they peered with heads side-by-side into it. Fully opened, the knife was forty-six centimeters (eighteen inches), with twenty-two centimeters (around eight and a half inches) of it being the blade. Laxus was right that the knife was a bit large for him, but Adam's love for it was more than enough to overlook the discrepancy.

Adam and his friends had exchanged words at his first reveal of the blade, but came to an awed silence after a short bit. Once satisfied, though truly, the young kids could not have enough of it, Adam closed the blade and set it down in his lap, resting his right hand over its large ivory handle.

The trio of kids sat at the base of the statue on the outskirts of town that served as their typical meeting point and talked over their plans for the picnic to come. Like the last time, they had agreed to buy food beforehand; however, this time Ella came prepared with a shoulder strapped basket to carry the food in. Ella, while content with the food the boys had picked out previously, made the point to get more fruits this time around, which were her preference.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!!" Adam leapt to his feet and pumped the fist that held his new knife up. With his friends following suit, they rose with spirit to their feet and turned to follow after Adam into the market. The group's liveliness came to an abrupt stop as a man rounded the corner right in front of them, blocking their path and looking down at the group, his eyes shooting daggers.

"YOU."

Adam and Ella swiftly looked to Titus to see his reaction as his father singled him out. Titus' father's one utterance was sharp, forceful, but not entirely a shout. The man, like his son, had mangy brown hair and dull green eyes, though his were full of malice and bitterness over his son's reserved and peaceful ones.

"... Father..."

Titus' father's eyes darted between Adam and Ella, immediately spotting the knife and basket they carried.

"Going somewhere?" he spat arrogantly.

"N-... no sir..." Titus' head fell as he sought to avert his father's menacing gaze. To avoid this, Titus' father stepped into him, grabbed him by the hair, and raised his head so he could once again glare into his eyes, which began to well with held back tears. Titus had grown used to the abuse and had learned to not cry, but just then, he couldn't help but to this time, having been only moments away from a temporary freedom.

"You're lying to me." Titus' father threw his son's head to side, causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the ground. The man then snatched the ivory handle of the knife from Adam, who was too in shock to even realize what the man had done.

"Titus!!" Ella attempted to run between Titus' father and Adam to get to her friend, but the adult backhanded her with enough force send her flying back and smack her head against the solid dirt floor. While not unconscious, Ella was heavily dazed and disoriented.

"THIS." The man straightened his posture and held up the knife to eye-level, "This is the work of Lars... no, Laxus. You must have stolen it. It seems I'll have to confiscate this and turn you into the authorities."

Adam, snapping into the reality of the situation at hand, shook his head and reached up for his knife, but the man raised it above his head, sneering down at him.

"No! I bought it with my own money! Give it back!!"

"There's no way in Hell a child like you bought this. We can forget the authorities. How about I do you a favor and return it to him myself?"

"He kn-"

Titus' father planted a solid kick down onto the boy's chest, sending him back into the ground and onto his rear. While the kick didn't hurt as much as Adam had expected, it made his chest begin to puff with rage.

"Adam..." Ella groaned as she tried crawling towards him, with an arm outstretched. Titus' father stepped towards and kicked Ella's side, flipping her onto her back and causing her to yelp in pain.

Adam rose to his feet slowly as his breathing accelerated, his jaws clenched tightly and fists, even tighter, with a lowered head.

"Adam... don't... please..." Titus whimpered from the floor.

"Seems like you don't want to stay down on the dirt where you belong, eh, thief? Maybe this'll teach you to not get up next time..." the hostile man unfolded Adam's knife and held it down at his side. Even with his head lowered, Adam could see the revealed blade in his upper peripherals.

"I'm going to make you pay for what you did to my friends..." Adam seethed through gritted teeth.

"Your friends?" the man mocked, "All I see is my shitty brat of a son and a weak girl."

Titus' father spat onto Adam's head, the wet mass slowly trickling down the boy's once-kept blonde hair. Adam exhaled shakily as he raised his head up to the monster of a man.

The man let forward an uncoordinated thrust of Adam's knife towards the boy's stomach, but Adam had expected as much. In that moment, Adam could see the man's movement in slow motion, as if moving through a thick gelatin. Adam calmly stepped to the side and into the man, slapping the knife out of his right hand with his own left. Taking his time, to him at least, Adam reared back his right fist before unleashing it into the man's stomach. The sheer force of the blow sent the man flying back through a crowd of people, knocking some over, but eventually coming to a halt after storming through a few more. Heads of bystanders immediately turned to face the source of the commotion and fixed themselves on Adam, who remained standing strong with his fist outstretched.

"You there! Halt!!"

The deep voice of a Roman soldier called out as he pushed through the crowd of people to make his way over to Adam. The soldier's partner herded the crowd away from the scene as the first approached Adam, who calmly straightened himself and held his hands out to him to chain.

"You're under arrest. Make no sudden movements and come with me."

After Adam's wrists were shackled, he was dragged along behind the soldier as the crowd made way for the two of them. Glancing back at his friends, he saw Titus hold up his knife from the floor and give him a solemn nod. Ella was sitting upright, but a splotch of red on the right side of her face visible from even Adam's increasing distance made it clear she was bleeding. Adam clenched his jaw once more, turning his head back front to obediently follow the Roman soldier.

____________________

"Adam!!" Calliope wailed against the bars of the jail cell that the young boy was held in. Normally bright and full of life, Adam's eyes glowed dimly in the dark of his moonlit cell as he stared stoically at his distraught mother. Calliope moved to the side as a Roman soldier, a different one than the one that had originally captured Adam, unlocked the jail cell and stepped to the side.

"You're being released, child. Witness accounts all say you acted in self-defense and were the victim of that man's accost, as well as your friends. We've identified the man as Tiberius Galerus and he will be held accountable for his actions. However, there will still be a fine that needs to be paid for your own."

Adam blinked and rose to his feet, switching his gaze to the soldier that stood outside of his cell.

"This should do," Adam handed over the remainder of his gold coins to the soldier, who, after peering inside, seemed thoroughly satisfied with what he saw. With a smile, he closed the door behind Adam and went his way, leaving the boy and his mother alone.

"Adam..." Calliope sniffled as she pulled her son into her bosom, "Tell me... What happened?"

Adam leaned energy-less into his mother, "I... I was just protecting my friends..."

Calliope squeezed Adam tightly before standing up, her worried tone shifting into a graver one, "You are going to tell me everything."

The mother and son rode silently on horseback to their humble abode, where each reflected on and gathered their thoughts for the conversation that was to be held the following day. Dismounting the horse after his mother, Adam delayed his entry to their home to watch the silver-lit harvest he had diligently tended to that morning. Before everything had changed.