“WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!” The kids were shaking Xabe’s body, fueled by their never-ending excitement. He irritatingly groaned and tried to swap them away like flies.

“Come on, Xabe, it’s morning!” said a little girl.

“Euuugghhh…” Xabe tucked his face with a pillow.

“Get up, get up, get up, get up!” chanted a little boy. The rest of them even tried to hoist him up, but they were no match against Xabe’s body mass as it let gravity pull him to the ground again.

An older girl placed her fist between her waist. “Breakfast won’t start without you.” Xabe slightly opened his eyes to see her curly, short, brown hair, jolly pink eyes, wide smile, wearing a floral crown, and still wearing her white nightgown and white sandals. Her name was Haruko the spring child.

Beside her was a boy with the same age as Haruko. “All of you,” he said. “Go downstairs now, you little runts. Help Holly prepare the dining room downstairs.” Unlike the older girl, the fair-skinned older boy gives a negative aura. A much older Elliot to summarize it. But his name was Terrance. His dark blue hair could almost cover his gray eyes. Like his favorite color, he wore his navy pajamas and black sandals.

The kids immediately ran outside the bedroom- better not to switch Terrance to his menacing side. Then, they heard a snore from a bed near the window. Haruko pouted her mouth and crossed her arms. “Aww, Aden is still asleep.”

Terrance sighed and started stomping his feet toward his friend’s bed. He stood beside Aden’s side, who was still snoring like a wild beast. Xabe finally got up to see Terrance slowly raising his left hand to slap the hell out of Aden.

Abruptly, the formerly sleeping boy got up and quickly he said, “I’m awake, I’m awake. I was just messing with you two.”

Haruko whined and Terrance grunted. “A shame, I anticipated your pain,” he said.

“Good morning to you, as well, Terrance,” chuckled Aden. Unlike his friend, Aden was the complete opposite. The bangs of his golden hair were split in half, exposing more of his pale face and brown eyes. He stretched his arms high, lifted his red-orange pajamas to expose his belly button. “I just thought to join Xabe while we appreciate the extended time of our naps.”

“True,” Xabe smirked. Aden was something else: witty, pretty-straight forward, and one of the few kids who understood Elliot well. “Alright, let’s go downstairs,” he gestured to the older kids.

Aden said, “Yeah, gotta continue reading my favorite book.”

Haruko giggled, “And I don’t want them to finish all the food.”

Terrance rolled his eyes. “Nor getting bossed around by Holly for being late.”

“She’s not bossy, Terrance.” Xabe could almost burst out a laugh. “You’re just lazy.”

Haruko winced, “Oof, facts.”

Terrance blushed while he gave her the look.

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After the very decent, silent breakfast, it was time for another playtime at the meadows outside the orphanage. The small beasties were playing tag around the flowers while the well-behaved ones played with their favorite toys under the large tree accompanied by the quiet kids who were reading books, excluding Elliot, who was carving a wooden miniature hero. At such a young age, he knew how to handle a knife quite well.

He had a perfect view of the miniature in his left hand. Wearing a winged helmet and raising its mighty sword to the heavens. As he looked down to the grassy land, he saw Xabe performing stretches to relieve himself from laying on the mattress earlier.

At the meadow, all the children gather to see Haruko, Terrance, and Aden to see what they’re up to. “At the dawn of the sun, follows darkness,” narrated Haruko. She had an amazing gift of controlling the weather, as small clouds near her began to blacken. “And from that darkness, appeared the terrifying, the menacing, the demonic, the blazing-”

Terrance whispered to her while he clasped his hands. “Haruko, get to the point, already.”

“Oh, sorry, almost carried away again,” she grinned. “Ahem… the creation of The Darkened One, Devastrigon itself.”

By the time Haruko stepped aside, Terrance moved forward to have his spotlight. With his gift of summoning constructs, he spread his arms open wide to unleash a sparkling red construct of the three-headed dragon. It flew down to the small children, and they screamed as the red construct passed through them and flew up to the dark small cloud.

“But, of course, awakened from his slumber, the legendary hero came out of nowhere to put a stop to such monstrosity,” narrated Haruko again. This time, it was Aden’s turn. From his pocket, he put down a mini toy of a dragon-armored hero with a sword and shield. Aden opened his palm as each finger shined bright orange. The hero toy sparked with the same color and began to animate. The kids were astonished and cheered for it.

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Meanwhile, far ahead of the road, two individuals marched while staring at the nostalgic feeling of the Meadow Orphanage. The individual on the left wore everything dark gray: his vest, pants, combat boots, and even his pauldron on his left shoulder. His blond hair was short enough not to reach the back of his neck, but his bangs were long enough to almost reach his blue eyes.

The individual on the right, however, looked out of place. He casually walked on the road while sporting an indigo floral polo, pink shorts, white Crocs, and sporting his indigo sunglasses. Even his tanned skin, golden wavy hair that reached his neck, and a brown braided headpiece were a plus. Furthermore, he looked like a hippie with style who went back from vacation.

Behind the hippie with style’s indigo sunglasses were glaring cyan eyes. “We could’ve taken a carriage, you know.”

“This is fine,” said the blond man nonchalantly. “Walking clears my head.”

“Walking makes me tired as fuck. I don’t even know why I came with you to walk.”

The blond man raised his eyebrow. “Maybe your whiny thoughts need clearing as well.”

The hippie scoffed, “Hilarious, dude.”

They both startled at the sight of a mini dark cloud hovering below the children. As they got closer, they saw a tiny figurine fighting a holographic dragon. All of this charade was done by those three older kids, judging from their expressions and actions.

“Yow, we didn’t have a kiddie theater back then.” The hippie with style’s eyes widened.

The blond man tossed his head. “Let’s get a closer look.”

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Later, all the kids, even Xabe and Elliot, joined together to see the amazing action. While the rest of the children sat on the grassland, Xabe decided to remain standing to act as somewhat of a guardian watching over the children, but not Elliot, who decided to stand beside him while holding his carved hero miniature.

Xabe caught a glimpse of what Elliot was holding, it looked quite different from the animated hero toy that Aden was controlling, it almost looked like from that tarot card back at the-

“As mighty as he is.” Haruko raised her voice. “He used his powerful roar to let the dragon’s guard down.”

Amazingly, the hero toy pretended to let out a huge roar, even though the waves were part of Terrance’s constructs. The fake Devastrigon was blown away.

“Then the Dragonslayer, with all his power, had slain the dragon.” Haruko focused on the hero toy as it leaped high straight to its heart.

The dragon construct exploded into a magnificent firework. “And Devastrigon is no more!” Haruko looked up and smiled. The dark clouds faded as the sunlight began to give the mini Dragonslayer a standing ovation. The kids erupted with the loudest cheer. This was the first time they had a mini theater. Aden picked up the hero toy as it dropped on the ground. Terrance closed his hands into a fist to make the construct disappear. Lastly, Haruko clapped her hands to set the weather back to normal.

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The three kids held hands, raised their arms, then bowed. For these children, it’s nothing but a fairy tale to them, but for Xabe, it was all too real. He then later felt something. Xabe started hearing two footsteps walking on the road. By the moment he turned around, the young man saw two unlikely visitors walking towards them. One looked like a street fighter and the other like a hippie with style.

“Uh… hi.” The hippie gave a shy smile as he raised his hand close to his chest. “Morning kids, we’re looking for Mother Flora Meadow. Is she here?”

Xabe, being the only oldest in the group, stepped in to confront them. “Yes, hello,” he greeted. “Who’s asking?”

“Well, I’m-” The hippie was cut off when he saw a nun walking outside the orphanage.

“Sean Leo Kenslin,” smiled Mother Flora. “It has been a long time.”

Sean bowed as a sign of respect. “Well, to me, it was rather short, Mother.”

Mother Flora turned to the blond man. “Especially with you, Claes Vortecse.”

Claes offered a weak smile and slightly nodded.

The playful, well-behaved, and quiet kids had no single clue. But to Xabe’s ears, the surname Vortecse sure sounded familiar.

Mother Flora turned to the sixteen-year-old boy. “Xabe, get the kids inside the dining area. Lunch is almost ready.”

Xabe nodded, “Alright, you heard Mother Flora. Get to it!” He gestured all the kids inside before entering last.

Claes walked to Mother Flora. “May we come in?”

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In the living room, there were many family pictures of the Meadow Orphanage that were hung on the red wall. Each with different frames, designs, and colors.

The pictures were of the previous generations of orphans who grew up in this place. Claes looked at a specific family portrait of where he and Sean were. They looked so young, and so did Mother Flora. The young Erik Vortecse, his older brother, was tall enough to rest his arms between the small Claes and Sean.

Sean looked around the room. In the middle was a rectangular table with red, yellow, and pink tulips on top of a glass vase. One long green sofa and two red couches. On the two brown bookshelves between a stone chimney were the same books that he used to memorize all those years ago.

This place hadn’t changed a bit, except for the floral-designed blue carpet on the wooden floor.

“The children are having their early classes with Elise Berrygrewd.” Mother Flora stepped inside. “I double-checked to make sure.”

Claes asked, “Elise is here?” He and his companion sat on the red couches.

“Yes.” Mother Flora brought out a bright smile. She gently sat on the long green sofa. “She couldn’t see you yet till lunchtime.” She looked outside the living room to make sure no one is watching. Later, Mother Flora turned to them in a whisper. “Any news from her husband?”

Claes lowered his voice. “He can’t see them yet. He has been working hard to create countermeasures for years. His research made him more… workaholic.”

Mother Flora dropped her eyes. “I see.”

Sean asked, “Mmm, how is his family holding up?”

“His children were bitter, at first, but Elise receives letters from him and shares them. Then, these children grew fast and determined enough to wait till his return. After all, there had been no news of him missing in action.”

Sean commented, “Must’ve been very tough.”

“No need to worry, they’re fine. This orphanage is enough to give the family life and purpose.”

“Wow, good for them. What about Mother Rumple, is she and Mrs. Berrygrewd became best buds?” asked Sean.

Mother Flora shook her head. “She was summoned back to the Holy place. Fortunately, Elise volunteered to be a teacher here. Even her children came to be at service: the eldest as the cook and cleaner, the twins as their fun companions, and the son as our assistant in basically everything.”

“Aww, I’m going to miss her… not.” Sean then turned to Claes and muttered, “She scared the hell out of me as a kid.”

Mother Flora began to finally ask, “I’m certain the reason why both of you came here is for important matters, am I correct?”

Sean was about to let out a word, but Claes quickly cupped Sean’s mouth with his hand, because Claes knew his running mouth quite well. “Yes, Mother Flora. We were sent here under Erik’s command for a mission.”

“For?” Mother Flora’s face no longer held that bright smile.

“To scout the entire area of Yardsville. Contacting the Flash Guardians to safeguard it- including the Meadow Orphanage.”

Mother Flora peered for an answer. “Why, is there something wrong?”

“We just hope it doesn’t reach here.”

From that sentence, Mother Flora instinctively knew what was up, but still, she didn’t want to believe it. “How bad is the situation?”

Claes leaned closer and did his best to be quiet as possible. “Code Crimson.”

From those two words, Mother Flora’s heart sank. As if her soul was punched out of her body, but with the grace of the angels, it was like they put the soul back in to process. “Oh…,” she said after a long pause. Then, Mother Flora started to realize something. “Is he here?”

Claes responded, “He’s where the adversary is- which is far over at Mt. Pike according to our scouts who will be joining him as support.”

“How is it still coming back?” she muttered.

“That’s what Wayde has been working on for six years. Things will be properly explained, but not until the boy hears it himself.”

“Does he think it’s time to-”

Suddenly, Allanda Bert happily greeted the unlikely guests. “Hello, hello, hello!” She entered into the room carrying a silver tray with a plate of crackers and three glasses of water. “The kids told me that two individuals arrived, and so I thought-” She gasped at the sight of the two. “Sean Leo Kenslin? By the grace of Heaven, look at you, you look like a hippie with style.”

Sean removed Claes’s hand, darting at him. “I hope your hand was clean.” He then showed his delighted expression to Allanda. “Good morning, Mrs. Bert. It has been a loooong time. And what can I say, I always keep my classic look.”

“Speaking of a classic look. You,” Allanda turned to Claes and put the tray down. “On the other hand, look so different, Claes.”

Claes was too shy to smile. “Same with you, Mrs. Bert.”

Allanda placed her hands beside her waist. “Well, I am experimenting with which fashion style works for me.” Allanda stood up and clasped her hands. “So, this is quite a reunion, but I must return to the kitchen. You can meet the others later at lunchtime. Oh! You have got to meet Elise’s children, especially meeting Holly again.”

“I still remember her,” Sean smiled. “She couldn’t handle my charm.”

Claes muttered, “More like your annoyance,”

“I’m pretty sure you’re all going to be fine. Alright then, see you all later.”

“Wait.” Mother Flora stood up before Allanda could get out. “I almost forgot, please inform Elise that our guests will stay long here.”

Claes started saying, “Oh, we didn’t pack-”

Sean quickly interjected, “Yes, we did.” With a snap of his fingers, two large bags appeared beside them. Claes gave Sean a puzzled look, but Sean responded with an assuring one.

Allanda’s eyes widened and pouted her lips. “I almost forgot you can do that. Okay, okay, I seriously have to go now, bye-bye.”

They smiled and bowed their heads as a sign of greeting. After she was gone, the room went quiet.

“Let me guess.” Sean broke the silence first. “The boy we talked to earlier was-”

Mother Flora nodded, “Yes, it was him.”

Claes narrowed his eyes at his companion. “You have zero idea, do you?”

Sean shrugged, “Well, duh, he looked like some random boy you see back in Yardsville.”

Mother Flora interjected with another important question. “Any news from the Drakoroarian clans?”

Claes, gladly ignoring Sean, turned to her. “Sadly no. There’s still no sign of them. As for the Darken clans, though, they may be signs of their return, which had led to the investigations on how they managed to escape the Void. Though, we happened to find their stranded wicked seer who wandered around a desert. We brought her back to the Flash Guardian Hold for investigation.”

“And here’s the thing,” Sean added, but in a whisper. “She kept mumbling words of an ancient prophecy. Unfortunately, though, she escaped from the Hold and never been seen again.”

Claes added, “Whoever this Darken seer was, she’s very good at keeping her location untracked. Even Erik and I still have no leads of her.”

“But that wouldn’t matter.” Sean crossed his arms. “Mr. Wayde had already been deciphering her bone-chilling whispers after many attempts of recording.”

Mother Flora stood up. “We must inform, Elise, later. Soon, the children will also reunite with their father. And I hope he will explain everything to the boy.”

Claes concurred with a nod. A silence took over the living room, until Sean spoke, “So, um… are you guys going to eat the biscuits?”