Much like Cecelia, when Ethan heard the Katarina’s terrified proclamation that the other orphans had been kidnapped his entire being, physically and emotionally, stiffened like a board. It was true that he had only spent two days at the sanctum for his work but there had been a few chances while on break for him to interact with the boys and girls there. While Katarina provided additional details to Cecelia Ethan’s mind began to wander back to the memories of the last two days.

“Mister, mister! You sure are strong!”

“Yea!”

Ethan had just finished emptying another cart load of debris and had just returned to the hallway at the back of the sanctum. Waiting for him by the door was a group of young kids, probably half his age, or perhaps a little older. They were all boys except for one girl who remained shyly in the back, though her excitement was clear. The tallest boy in the front was the one who called out to him, though all the rest hand joined together to announce their agreement.

“Huh?”

Ethan really hadn’t thought about his strength as an adventurer so the comment caught him off guard. To him he was simply doing what he could and a lot of people could probably do the same. It was the result of growing up amongst other Afflicted at the Forgotten Oaks Sanctuary and his mentality had been one of the reasons why the headmistress had decided to send him to Cloudcrest earlier than usual, though he wasn’t aware of that last fact. After a few seconds Ethan was able to put two and two together and smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, I guess. Thank you for the compliment.”

He wasn’t used to compliments so he was a bit embarrassed when he realized that was what he was receiving. Raising a hand to rub the back of his head he produced a forced laugh to try and mask his unease. While he wasn’t used to them he was at least aware of the proper response when receiving one.

“You guess?! Are you serious?!”

It would seem he answered incorrectly given the barrage of their near identical responses. He even shied away from the group a bit when they reacted so adamantly.

“Ummm, I guess? I’m just doing what I can you know?”

He offered with a hopeful, yet uneasy, expression on his young face. Perhaps that would placate them? He was so bad with those with strong or even enthusiastic personalities. Sorry Ethan, another wrong answer. Had this been a game show a loud buzzer would have sounded all around them.

“Whaaat?! Just doing what you can?! You know not even all of us together can lift one of those pieces right?!”

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It was the tallest one in front speaking on his own now and he had moved from enthusiastic to almost accusatory. It would seem he was taking Ethan’s modesty in the wrong way, though there was that saying that too be too modest was to be insulting... or something like that. Ethan lifted his arms to place his palms out between them before replying quickly.

“No, I didn’t know that. I did realize they were heavy though, the fact you all tried is really impressive!”

Ethan had hoped a compliment would help ease the tensions and it seemed to have worked at least a little bit. The boy in front seemed to lose some of his momentum upon hearing Ethan’s words and most of them exchanged slightly embarrassed looks of their own. Finally there were a few murmurs of thanks from the group. Ethan, feeling a bit better about the situation offered a big smile and nod in reply.

“Well I better get back to work. I’ll see you later?”

He wasn’t sure why his question also seemed to have a request mixed in but he didn’t get a chance to dwell before the group happily agreed and then left while laughing and talking to one another. Ethan watched them round a corner to go down a separate hallway before returning to his work with a smile. Thinking on the events that had just transpired he failed to see the edge of a figure watching him from behind a pillar down the hallway behind him.

Ethan’s trip down memory lane slowly faded back to the present and he began to pick up Katarina’s words.

“Please send a healer to the head cleric! She fell and then was bound. The baker helped free her but he doesn’t know how to heal!”

Cecelia considered Katarina’s words for a second before looking to Ethan.

“Please go let Lorelle know and then come on back. I know you were just there for a job so your knowledge may be of use.”

Ethan nodded and quickly made his way out of the room and down the hall to where Lorelle was still trying to manage the situation with the curious people standing in the entrance. Hearing him jog up behind her she excused herself and walked off to the side with Ethan to get the update. Nodding she moved back to the group to speak with a pair of young women who looked to be in their twenties while Ethan quickly returned to the room.

“They were chasing me and I managed to make it to the massive storage room in the back. I’m told it used to be one of the inner altars that had to be re-purposed after the sanctum started degrading. It is massive and so full of boxes that they gave up trying to find me and simply locked me in. If the baker who donates unsold bread from the day before hadn’t stopped by I would still be trying to get out.”

Katarina broke down into tears once again when she finished her statement and it took several moments before she could continue.

“The head cleric confronted the kidnappers after telling me to run to the storage room. She was thrown aside... tied up... and hurt because she was saving me. Please, you have to help her.”

Cecelia knew Ethan’s return was a sign that Lorelle was already handling the situation but she was still grateful when he spoke up for Katarina’s sake.

“Lorelle has already sent someone. I saw her speaking to someone before I came back. Don’t worry...” he paused when he heard his words, “if you can that is. Lorelle and Cecelia are the best at what they do.”

Cecelia managed a smile but nothing else and Lorelle felt her ears grow warm for some reason unknown to her. Ethan wasn’t sure why he included Cecelia in his compliment as his experiences with her so far hadn’t really matched his statement but it seemed appropriate given the situation. Katarina sniffed and then nodded before looking down at the mug resting within her loose grip of shaking hands.