Yesterday was quite overwhelming, at least for Holly. That time, she sensed that something strange was going on. Her intuition told her that the arrival of Claes Vortecse and the other guy was no sheer coincidence- until it was the time when her mother explained everything.

Holly also found it quite fitting that knowing such revelations will be held in the Meadow Orphanage library. “This is about… your brother,” Elise said exactly before a sudden roar echoed from outside. Their calm posture jolted as they startled and quickly turned to the large window.

Despite the distance of the great sound, Holly- even the twins- found it quite familiarly haunting, but she still asked, “What was that?”

Rose muttered, “It can’t be.”

Pansy looked at her twin. “Or can it?”

Elise knew this would happen, but she couldn’t help but feel surprised as the rest of them. The mother turned to her twin daughters first. “That doesn’t sound good. Rose, and Pansy, secure the children. I do not wish for them to think the possible worst thing from the outside world.” She then turned to her eldest daughter. “Holly, it’s time for the Bert couple to know the truth. Send them here at the library.”

Mother Flora added, “Tell them I needed them here.”

As Elise stood up, the daughters became more puzzled. “Mom…?” Holly’s narrowed her eyebrows to try her best to at least make sense of what was happening at this time.

“I’ll go send a word to Mr. Carry,” Elise said. “I think I may know what he’s up to.”

There it was again, the haunting echoing roar. It felt like the sound started to surround the room. “Claes, Sean, you may join the girls,” she added and the two men nodded in response.

The mother and daughters were first to exit the room. Sean wanted to accompany the eldest, but Claes grabbed his shoulder and said, “You accompany the twins.”

The hippie with style wanted to protest, but Claes went out swiftly as the wind, so he had no other choice but to sigh before leaving the room.

Only Mother Flora remained, who stood up from her seat and walked toward the window. Her memories flooded back to her Healer days. Then she immediately wondered if Dreyagon was out there somewhere… dealing with his unfinished business.

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In the classroom decorated with drawings of gardens, fairies, knights, and castles, the children were rushing toward the large windows to hopefully see what was going on. But all they saw were falling snowflakes from the seemingly dark clouds.

The three older children, Haruko, Aden, and Terrance, warily exchanged looks. The well-behaved, playful, and quiet kids shared the same reaction. They felt something horrible was happening behind the fainting sound.

Elliot, the strange kid, passed through the other children to come near the window. Somehow, he thought Xabe was there somewhere.

The Bert couple turned to the entrance to see Holly, the twins, Claes, and Sean barging into the room.

Holly switched her gaze between the husband and wife. Amanda asked, “Holly?”

The eldest daughter implored, “Mother Flora is at the library, she needs you there.”

From that tone, the couple didn’t hesitate to what could be the meaning of all this.

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That day was quite stressful indeed. To them, it just so happened to be a haunting roar that faded away. Today, the news scattered all across Yardsville, then all of a sudden Flash Guardians were at the town to protect and secure the people in case whatever was out there could reach here, which, thanks to Elowah, didn’t step a single foot in this place.

As of now since the silence yesterday, Yardsville went back to normal. As if panicking would do any good, but the citizens remained wary. Holly focused on hanging the sheets on a clothesline outside the orphanage. She sighed from remembering the stress: the twins were trying their best to comfort the children, but the hippie with style didn’t do much help at first though.

MaXabiere had not yet returned, and Mr. Carry was still gone. While at that, their mother sent him a word. Perhaps she had an owl or a raven?

Oh wait, maybe she used the latest one called a notepad. Although it’s still limited, the notepad had proven to be such a useful device, and what a privilege to have something so reliable. The new era will one day be triumphant… if it wasn’t for that echoing roar that somehow made Holly’s spine shiver. Despite everything their mother had told them, Elise still forgot to mention their brother… maybe she even knows about their father.

Holly shook her head to get rid of those mumbling and jumbling inside a once peaceful mind. After she hung a pink striped sheet, Holly was about to turn to her right for the pillowcases at the basket, but by the time she did, the girl’s soul was sent straight to Heaven when her eyes met the tall blond man.

Claes Vortecse raised his hand with a gentle gesture to calm her down as she gasped so much, it was as if she was about to open a black hole through her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said in a calming voice instead of his usual plain way of speaking.

Holly controlled her breathing for an instant while shutting her eyes and immediately opened them to properly see Claes wearing a black shirt and gray pants. It was not surprising since the Vortecse’s signature color always had to be dark.

“Poison apple was eaten by Snow White,” she breathed. “I didn’t even hear your footsteps.”

Claes waited until she recovered. When she did, he said, “I… uh… your mother told me to check on you. You’ve kept yourself busy after lunch.”

“What is she talking about?” Holly returned to her task to hang the pillowcases. “I just thought of attending to my duties. Also, I want to finish these as much as possible.”

The blond man nodded, “I see. May I be of any assistance?”

Holly glanced at him. “Oh no, no. I’m good.”

Claes came close beside her. “Please, I insist. If finishing hanging these would be faster, then you can rest.”

“No. Though I appreciate your request.” Holly smiled at him. “Besides you’re-”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

But despite that, Claes picked up the remaining sheets and started hanging at what space was left in the clothesline. “I don’t wish to see a lady being distressed while working after she just ate.”

Holly watched as he was doing the same task. He was different, though still the same quiet fellow six years ago… but somehow he became more… approachable.

Holly shook her head. “It still doesn’t feel right, you’re a guest.” Then she muttered, “Despite you guys had to sleep in the empty room.”

To avoid any discomfort, Claes let out a weak smile. “Oh no, please. I was a Meadow orphan and the one doing the chores back then. So this feels quite natural.”

Holly tilted her head. She muttered, “Huh, so that’s how you look like when you smile?”

Claes was a bit distracted from all the hanging the last sheets and cases, despite being a bit far, Claes swore he heard those words right, but it still sounded a bit faint. “I’m sorry, what was that?” He turned to her. Holly’s eyes slightly widened and started turning her head between him and the sheets.

“I-I said, now that’s how you hang sheets at such a pace. So um-” She clasped her hands and straighten her pastel green dress. “Where’s my mom and my sisters?”

“Your mother is in the living room while your sisters are in the bedroom with the kids.”

“Odd…,” she pondered. “No lessons nor playing at the halls or the meadows?”

Claes shook his head. “No, they were still shaken from the haunting roar yesterday.”

Holly looked up at the third floor of the orphanage. Of course, for them, everything escalated so quickly too. She heard Haruko, Aden, and Terrance even had their nice open theater yesterday at the meadows. Ever since Claes and Sean arrived, danger could arrive at Yardsville anytime- but it didn’t.

If her thoughts were correct, the roar from the distance had something to do with Xabe.

“I know you’re one of the Flash Guardians, Claes.” Holly turned to the blond man.

Claes lifted his eyebrows as he looked down. “Well, my family name had preceded as much. Not to mention my older brother.”

“Do you know if… my brother has something to do with what was going on yesterday?”

The blond man wanted to know what was going on at the Code Crimson operation- but even for someone like Holly, it would be too much for her. It’s best to leave the explanation to the parents.

“No, I don’t even know everything about your brother.” Claes’ sight switched to the third floor. “Or your twin sisters.”

Holly interjected, “What about my Dad?”

Claes stared at her. She still had those firing green eyes since six years ago. He quickly looked down. “We met him occasionally. He’s a great man. As far as I know, he does have something to do with what happened yesterday.” There was a moment of brief silence. Claes wasn’t good at conversations in the past, and talking to Holly was like talking to a stranger.

So that was it. If their father was indeed a Flash Guardian working alongside with the legendary Dragonslayer himself, and their brother, where ever he maybe, could be joining them (or not), this could only leave one thing: which would the mother and sisters be a **part **of?

Claes breathed, “This is a lot to take in, I know.”

“It’s okay.” Holly lit up a smile. “Thanks for telling me. Um… Ahem… would you mind joining me back inside?”

Claes bowed his head and gestured toward the door. “After you.” He watched as Holly went in first. She seemed tense from how stiffly her arms and legs moved, but at the same time, Holly acted as if she had drank a lot of coffee all of a sudden. “So that’s how you look like when you smile,” he muttered to himself before joining her inside.

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In the large bedroom. Rose, Pansy, and Sean were sitting on the middle floor with the kids. Some were at their bed and some were playing with their toys at the corners. “Xabe should be back by now,” said an orphan girl with a missing-eyed teddy bear.

An orphan boy beside her leaned, “Maybe he went out there to see where the scary roar came from.”

The orphan girl’s eyes widened. “Really? All by himself?”

Terrance, who casually liked to scare his young foster siblings, grinned, “Oh, how come you forgot Xabe? He mostly stayed up late looking out the window. That means he sees what we don’t.”

The other kids shivered at the thought. But the twin sisters somehow knew- but didn’t expect it would come to this. Aden asked the twins, “Is this true, though?”

Rose shrugged, “He hasn’t been acting strange at home.”

Pansy added, “Maybe he only acted that every time he’s here. Perhaps it’s the orphanage that’s haunted.”

That didn’t help as much as the kids started to use each other for cover. “Oh come on now, guys.” Haruko faced each of them with a cheery tone. “Whatever was out there, it’s probably gone now. Xabe was probably just resting that’s all.”

This new batch of orphans intrigued Sean Leo Kenslin. “Wait a minute kids.” He joined in. “What gives you the idea that Xabe has something to do with the roar yesterday?”

The orphan boy beside the girl with the teddy bear responded, “Well… Xabe is usually the one handling the trouble inside and outside the orphanage. Like there were these giant spiders that could’ve devoured us but Xabe took care of them when he found a spider nest dug deep beneath the basement.”

Sean muttered, “Wait, this orphanage has a basement all this time?”

The girl with the teddy bear added, “Also when Xabe captured the ghosts in the attic when he scooped them with a large sack before releasing them at the Wooded forest to set them free.”

At last, Pansy turned to Sean with a dead look. “And then our brother had to take care of a bear cub when Rose found the dangerous thing knocking right out our doorstep. It was hell when he had to bring the cub back and forth between our home and here.”

Rose frowned, “Cubby was being a good boy. You’re also fond of him, you know- since you always pretended your old teddy has a friend.”

Pansy attempted her best to rebut, but a part of her couldn’t deny the bittersweet company of Cubby the bear cub. She deeply growled, “Until Xabe has to return it to his mother. We can tell because she wants to kill the rest of us… at first.”

From all the tales of Xabe, Haruko smiled, “See, we shouldn’t be worried. He was gone then, and in time, he’ll be back soon.”

Near the window stood Elliot the strange boy. He watched the now peaceful and bright Wednesday as the rainbow flowers were blooming more vividly, the formerly gray clouds returned to their holy form, the sun illuminated the blue sky, Yardsville was back to business, and- what’s this? Mr. Carry has returned on riding the carriage all the way here.

“Speaking of soon,” Elliot spoke over his shoulder. They all gathered behind the boy to see the same thing as he was now. Rose and Pansy exchanged looks. The words from their mother had struck them with curiosity, intrigue, and worry. Mr. Carry’s return won’t be just another casual arrival at the orphanage this time.

A short moment later, Holly and Claes entered the bedroom only to see everyone piled up at the large windows. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” Holly asked.

Sean was the one who turned around to see the two, but before he could say everything, the twins abruptly turned to them and said in unison, “Mr. Carry is here. Jinx! Jinx again!”

The hippie with style couldn’t say another word but show a “Yeah, what they said” gesture.

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Who knew what Mother Flora and the Bert couple were up to, but Elise had paid attention to one thing: a family photo of the Berrygrewd family between the pages of her book The Amazons. She heard the sound of hooves and horse neigh outside. After she closed the book, it was that exact time that Holly, Rose, and Pansy barged inside the living room. The mother and daughters were together for what could be an important moment.

Holly called, “Mom.”

“We thought you’d be here,” said Rose.

Pansy turned to her twin. “Why do I have this feeling that something very important is going to happen?”

“Girls,” spoke Elise. She stood up and walked toward the window. Then, the mother turned to her daughters. “It’s finally time to greet them.”