I wasn’t sure what to feel. On one hand, what the siblings had gone through was a tale of tragedy and loss. On the other, they found family with the Grimms and have lived a better life.

Alice thumbed the rim of her cup, having finished speaking.

“So your village is just gone, permanently?” I asked.

“There was never a chance to rebuild. There were only three of us alive before Devon and the others came. And Mr. Albenack took his life the morning after,” she said.

“What about your grandparents? You said your grandma was outside the village during the attack.”

“The ghouls spread before the Grimms hunted them down. She was on her way back in a cart. We found her corpse hanging from a tree the same night.”

She recounted the tale with coldness, stating things merely as facts with little emotion to attribute. It wasn’t surprising but it raised goosebumps along my arms.

“And then what? The Grimms took you in as survivors and you've been here ever since?”

“Yes. It wasn’t hard to adapt. They were welcoming, and Eli underwent the ritual after a few months. Ever since then I was always treated as one of us. Just without the cloak till the day I became a Grimm.”

Well. At least she found a way to put it in a positive light.

Our food was long finished, the stains of remnant juices having hardened into crusty flakes. I motioned to the sink and stood up. We slipped our dishes into the slowly diminishing mountain of plates. Volto acknowledged us this time and waved us over.

The man beside him continued to flip what looked like burger patties as he turned and examined us from head to toe.

“More pups?” he asked.

His voice is surprisingly average for someone of his build. He was a hairy man wearing loose, rough-spun clothes with a stained, dark apron. Unlike normal Grimms he kept his cloak almost like a belt around his waist.

“Aye. They are. Special runts, too,” Volto replied.

The man leaned forward and sniffed us both before shrugging. “I don’t see it. The hair’s weird on the scrappy one. But they don’t seem so special.”

Scrappy?

I wasn’t exactly a walking pillar like Devon or a boulder like the two chefs, but I wouldn't say I was scrappy. That was just unfair, and insulting.

Before I could raise a complaint, Volto tapped the man on his shoulder and gestured to Alice.

“Markos. She’s Elias’ sister.”

Markos’ eyes bulged, and he stopped mid-flip, the patty falling to the ground with Volto rescuing it at the last second. He deposited the patty onto the grill and took the spatula from Markos’ hand before shoving him out of the way.

“Give me that! Don’t need Mother rising from her grave because you wasted food!” Volto chastised.

Alice stiffened, and her muscles started to tense but her face remained calm.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Did you know my brother?” she asked.

Markos stepped away from the kitchen area. He looked almost sheepish as he approached Alice, stealing glances toward Volto. Volto waved him off and put his back toward us as he helped plate another meal for a Grimm who walked in.

“Aye, I am. That means you’re Alice.”

“Yes.”

He rubbed his fingers and stared at her feet. “Sorry for not recognizing you, girl. It's been a long time.”

“I don’t remember you. Where you a friend?”

At this he looked up, a mix of confusion and surprise on his face. But the longer he stayed the more he relaxed till his shoulders slumped forward.

“Makes sense you wouldn’t remember me.” He sighed and wiped his hands on his apron before fixing his hair. When he was done he gave a far-too-wide smile and posed. “Well? This helping your memories?”

Alice cocked her head. “No.”

“Bah!”

“Girl. Remember your first birthday here. The surprise flower. And you,” he said, stopping long enough to point with the cooking utensil at Markos. “Stop smiling like a fool. You’re too big to be cute, yah idiot.”

Like a lightbulb going off, Alice’s eyes widened and she smiled. “I remember you now.”

“You do?” Markos asked.

“You gave me the cookies that tasted like sweet meat,” she said before losing her smile. “Then I never saw you again.”

“Ah… Yeah. Sorry about that. Whenever I returned you were always sleeping. Been on some long hunts till recently. Just bad timing.”

“Knew my brother well?”

“Well enough to feel some pain at his absence. He was a fine lad. A good hunter even for one so young. I’m sorry…”

Alice nodded and Markos turned to me. He studied me especially my hair.

“You must be Cain. Heard some snippets about you.”

Good or bad?

“Sorry?”

“Mmm. Just keep your wits, boy. And don’t forget to eat. I’ll be damned if I let the two of you starve.”

It sounded well-intentioned, but his eyes held murder in them as he uttered the last sentence. Luckily, Volto dragged him back behind the stands and we took our leave. Volto caught me staring and subtly nodded as he shoved the spatula into Markos’ grip.

As we exited the mess hall, Alice finally relaxed and shook her head.

“He looks nothing like he did five years ago.”

“What do you mean? They’re brothers right? They look too similar,” I said.

“They are, but Markos was much skinnier. Almost like Devon.”

That’s almost impossible to imagine. Did he eat a bison and absorb its mass?

“Isn’t it hard for our kind to go through extreme physical changes?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.”

“The cookies were awful. I loved them.”

“Huh.”

We turned a corner. While it wasn’t talked about we were heading toward the training room. The dead realm and the chimeras’ were fresh on our minds. And any and all power–including the new incantations would help in the next life or death situation.

That and Alice needed to test her stats changes. And while it was nice to spar, suffering magical torture wasn’t. She would have to settle for blasting a training dummy.

But our plans were foiled by the next bend in the tunnel.

“Alice! Cain!” someone shouted from behind us.

We turned. My hand moved to my weapon but I stopped as Adeline flagged us down. When she got within grabbing distance she glared my way and clawed the air.

“Hi Adeline, is something wrong?” I asked.

“You!” she pointed to my chest. “Where have you been?”

“Mostly with Astra. Why?”

She bit her lip and grabbed Alice’s shoulders. Like Volto and Markos she studied her body and even went so far as to pinch her skin to which Alice quickly battered her away.

“Well at least you're healthy. Are you fine enough to walk?”

Alice blinked, stone-faced.

Adeline tsked and grabbed our sleeves, pulling us along behind her till we followed on our own accord. Her stride was swift as she dodged passersby and led us down a twisting series of tunnels.

“Adeline…” Alice said.

“The ritual has been stalled long enough. It's her turn and she wanted you two present,” she grumbled.

“Ritual? And who wanted us present? Would be nice to have a crumb of context,” I said, stepping to the side in time to dodge a jogging woman’s elbow.

“If you were at the mess hall earlier like I thought you’d be, I could have explained this to you. But there’s no time. Alice, you'll have to give him the basics before we get there.”

“Okay…” I dodged another Grimm. There really are too many of them nowadays. “And who is doing what now?”

“Alice?”

“Are you sure she’s ready?” Alice asked.

Adeline didn’t stop but she did turn enough for us to see her face. Her eyes were hard.

“She’s not. But it doesn’t matter and I prefer she has a fighting chance. Besides, I can’t overthrow a command from the Prime.”

“Hello?” I butted in.

Alice shook her head. “It’s Kierra.”

“Okay, and what’s this about a ritual?”

“She’s undergoing the initiation. She’s about to become a Grimm.”